In an op-ed that appeared in USA Today, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka explained why voters are so mad in this election:
Tuesday’s primary results in Michigan prove that Americans have a deep-seated opposition to job-killing trade policies. Politicians at all levels in both parties need to remember that consequences exist for dismissing the anger their constituents feel about bad trade deals.
This is playing out right now at an Indianapolis manufacturing plant. Maybe you’ve seen the wrenching video of Carrier President Chris Nelson telling workers that their jobs were being shipped to Mexico.
Workers shouted and booed when Nelson said it was “strictly a business decision” made to “stay competitive and protect the business for the long term.”
Those Carrier workers are mad. We all should be. This isn’t a game. Plant closures disrupt lives, scatter families, empty schools and bankrupt communities. America’s economic rules are rigged to push every domestic manufacturer toward putting workers in that same terrible position.
Read the full op-ed.