Future, to our programming, with events such as this, while fostering a free press worldwide. For more information about the National Press club, please visit our website at press. Org. On behalf of our members worldwide, id like to welcome our speaker, and those of you attending todays event. Our head table includes guests of our speaker as well as working journalists who are club members. I note that members of the general public are attending as well, so its not necessarily evidence of a lack of journalistic operative if theres applause. I welcome our cspan and public radio audiences. Follow the action on twitter using the ncp lunch. After our guest speech concludes, well have a questionandanswer period. I will ask as many questions as time permits. Now its time to introduce our head table guests. Id like each of you to stand briefly as your name is announced. From your right, thomas sanchez, founder and ceo. Jamila bay, free lance journalist. Michelle, u. S. Economy reporter at bloomberg news. Matthew cutty, Washington Bureau chief of cnbc and guest of our speaker. Susan page, Washington Bureau chief, usa today. Tom trainer, district supervisor, and guests of our speaker. Terry, buffalo news, Washington Bureau chief, chairman of the ncp Speakers Committee and a former president of the National Press club. Allison fitzgerald, Senior Investigative reporter and project manager at the center for public integrity, and ncp board member and the organizer of todays luncheons. Thank you very much, allison. Timothy at politico. Sabrina eaton of the cleveland plain dealer. Jennifer miss ra hi, usa. Org. Our guest today has been the subject of rumor and speculation [ laughter ] for the last two weeks. Since his name surfaced as a favorite to replace eric holder as attorney general. But for now, at least, thomas perez is still the secretary of labor. Since being confirmed by the senate in july 2013, perez it seems has been everywhere. In houston, with Union Leaders one day, in memphis competing in a naildriving contest with a carpenter, and meeting with unemployed workers in cleveland yet another. The first friday of every month hes all over the airwaves, talking about the nations falling Unemployment Rate. And when hes here in town, hes likely to be spotted at, at least until last month, at national spark. Perez has been traveling the country preaching his gospel that hard work deserves a living wage. As head of the Labor Department, hes advocated raising the minimum wage to 10. 10, push for paid parental leave, and work to reduce the number of workers who are categorized as contractors. Hes been active on worker protections, often to the dismay of its leaders. In his first three months at labor, the department issued new regulations on wages, hiring, and chemical exposure. The son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic who settled in buffalo, perez has a long history in washington as a defender of civil rights. He was an adviser to senator ted kennedy, and spent many years in the justice Departments Office of civil rights. Perez led the division before president obama appointed him to the Labor Department last year. Now, according to some press reports, obama is considering sending perez back to justice to replace holder who announced last month that he plans to step down. Perez is not without his detractors, however. Before becoming labor secretary, he endured a grueling confirmation process in which mitch mcconnell, the leader of the Senate Republican minority, called him a committed etiolog. We look forward to hearing his thoughts on the economy, the job market, the vacancy at justice, and perhaps the nets. Ladies and gentlemen, give a warm welcome to labor secretary, tom perez. [ applause ] good afternoon. Myron, thank you for that generous welcome. I might talk a little bit about the buffalo bills, but well save that for another time, jerry. And thanks to everybody at the press club, including my good friend, allison fitzgerald, who lives in the neighborhood. Were overrepresented in tacoma park here today. But thats okay. Thank you for having me. You know, over the summer, something remarkable happened around new england. Thousands of employers of the regional Supermarket ChainMarket Basket walked off the job to protest the firing of their ceo, arthur t. Demullesu. They held rallies and picketed throughout the summer. Eight managers who spearheaded the first rally, some who had been with the company for 40 years, were fired. Loyal customers held their own rally in support of arthur t. Merchandise sales started to dwindle. Sales lagged. Vendors began to cut their ties with the company. And the governors of two states stepped in to try and broker a deal. In the end, a deal was reached. And arthur t. Took back control of the company. And just in time for labor day, the Market Basket employees went to work. Now, the company employs they have 71 fullservice supermarkets across new england. They employ roughly 25,000 people. These employees had one simple demand, they were calling for the return of their ceo. Upon his return, arthur t. Stood on the back of a pickup truck and made a very memorable speech which i think is very relevant to what we are discussing today. And this is what he said. You have demonstrated that everyone here has a purpose. Youve demonstrated that everyone has meaning, and no one person is better or more important than another. Whether its a fulltimer, or a parttimer, whether its a sacker, cashier, grocery clerk, truck driver, supervisor, customer, vendor, or a ceo, we are all equal. By working together, and only together, do we succeed. They launched their protest because they wanted to work for a guy like arthur t. Someone who didnt treat them just like they were another cost of doing business, but rather, as a valuable asset. Worthy of dignity. He understands that doing right by your employees is a great way to generate loyalty and productivity, adding value for customers and increasing your profit margins. He knows that in economy that works for everyone is an economy where prosperity is shared. Now, as they were getting up and running again, i had the privilege along with some of my friends in labor to travel with the president on Labor Day Weekend to milwaukee, where the president gave a speech in which he said, by almost every measure, the american economy, the American Workers are better off than when i took office. The data backs him up. September was the 55th straight month the private sector job growth to the tune of 10. 3 million new jobs, thats the longest uninterrupted streak of private sector job on record. All told, the United States has put more people back to work than europe, japan, and every advanced economy combined. Manufacturing continues to make a historic comeback, where making things here in america again, insourcing is in, outsourcing is out. Energy production is dramatically up. While the budget deficit is down. U. S. Exports are up. Reaching record highs. And for the First Time Since 2006, the poverty rate is down. Child poverty had its largest oneyear decline last year since 1966. The number of young people graduating high school is up. While the crime and incarceration rates are down. And reforming the Health Care System was, i guess in the words of joe biden, well just call it a b. D. And stick with that. Thanks to the Affordable Care act, weve reduced the ranks of uninsured adults by 10. 3 million since last year. Its undeniably true weve made tremendous progress since the worst economic crisis of our lifetime. The three months before the president took office, 2 million jobs were lost. And almost every indicator shows that were better off now than we were on january 20th, 2009. But thats not enough. Remember what the president said in these remarks. He said, by almost every measure, almost isnt good enough. Not good enough for the president , not good enough for me, and its not good enough for america. Its not good enough for the man i met in new jersey, in one of my meetings with the longterm unemployed, who had a sixfigure job in the advertising industry, lost his job, and now hes struggling to make ends meet. He told me, when i had cancer, tom, fighting cancer was easier than fighting longterm unemployment. And roberto, a woman i met in houston. Shes been a janitor for over 30 years. Even though she helped organize her coworkers, she still struggles to keep her head above water. 8. 85 an hour just isnt enough. To make ends meet. An increase in the minimum wage would go a long way to give her peace of mind. Almost isnt good enough for the new mom, from texas, who wrote to us after we were doing our paid leave campaign. She had to go without a paycheck for six months in order to take time off to be with her daughter who was born nine weeks premature, only because were the only industrialized nation on the planet who doesnt have a paid leave law. Its not good enough for the people working hard and falling further behind. Frankly, theres just no dignity in working 40 to 50 hours a week and getting your food at the food pantry. For them, and all these other families who continue to struggle, the data points dont mean a whole lot. If the breadwinner in your house is out of work, then the Unemployment Rate might as well be 100 . If every even if that breadwinner had been lucky enough to keep her job, chances are she hasnt seen a meaning finish raise in years. Even though shes contributing to rising productivity, and a growing economy with her hard work. Because the fact of the matter is the pie is getting bigger, American Workers help bake it, but theyre not getting a bigger slice. Their sweat equity is not translating into financial equity. Were on pace in 2014 for the best year of private sector job growth since 1998. But the difference between now and then is that in the late 90s, the rising tide lifted more boats. It lifted the cruiseliners and the dinghies. It seems to me that prosperity is sbrodly shared and we build an economy that truly works and meaningfully works for everyone. Some say i hear it with regularity that the challenges are intractable, that the problem is, quote unquote, structura structural, whether its wages and unemployment and technological progress. Create inherent and intractable inequities and opportunity gaps that simply cant be held. I tell you for one thing, i dont buy it. Structural unemployment, to me that amounts to excuse making, a way to justify inertia, and gridlock and just plain giving up. Im not giving up, and this president is not giving up. We recognize low wages and lousy benefits, we must remember are a choice, theyre not a necessity. Thats why i am confident we can construct a stairway to shared prosperity in which everybody has a chance to live their highest and best dreams. Thats what i want to talk to you about. This stairway has a number of important steps. Starting with tearing up the talking points, and understanding history. Shared prosperity is not a fringe concept, cooked up by socialists. Historically, both parties have embraced it, in both their words, and indeed their actions. Its a principle thats american as apple pie. And its a linchpin of a driving middle class. Dont take my word for it. Heres what Teddy Roosevelt is. Our aim is to promote prosper y prosperity, and see that prosperity is passed around and there is a Proper Division of prosperity. Dont take my word for it, listen to one of wall streets most powerful executives, lloyd blankfein, ceo of goldman sachs. He talked about the destabilizing impacts of income inequality. Heres what he said. Too much of the gdp over the last generation has gone to too few of the people. Standard and poors recently issued a report explaining that income inequality is stifling. Gdp growth at a time were still climbing out of the great recession. A rising tide lifts all boats, but a lifeboat carrying few surrounded by many treading water risks capsizing. Just three days ago, this is what janet yellen said. The extent of, and continuing increase in inequality in the United States greatly concern me. Its no secret that the past few decades of widening inequality can be summed up as significant income and wealth gains for those at the very top, and stagnant Living Standards for the majority. So people across ed yo logical spectrum recognize americas best when we share in the sacrifices and spoils. Gilded ages will never be golden ages in america. In todays political climate, and the polarization, i feel like there are some who have regrettably lost sight of the fact that shared prosperity is a nonpartisan principle thats a key to longterm success. Now, another step in this stairway to shared prosperity is a very familiar one. We have basic commonsense tools at our disposable. We need to raise the minimum wage. Despite what youve heard on capitol hill, this isnt a radical concept. The congress led by Newt Gingrich passed it. Every president except two since fdr signed it into law. Weve been stuck at 7. 25 for five years. The purchasing power is 20 less than 30 years ago. The u. S. Has the lowest minimum wage as a percentage of median wage, the third lowest, i should say, among oecd countries. The third lowest. Meanwhile, if you look across the pond and you see countries governed by conservative leadership such as the country of the uk, where they recently announced an increase in the minimum wage to 11. 05 an hour. Why did they do this . They did it for the same reason that that flaming liberal henry ford did it. He doubled the wages for people on the assembly line, because as he said, countrywide, high wages spell countrywide prosperity. So this is not a fringe idea. Strong majority of folks, and a majority of Small Businesses support increasing the minimum wage to 10. 10 because they understand that raising wages generates Economic Growth, and what businesses need more than anything as the Business Owner in seattle said to me a few months ago, our customers, they understand that 70 of gdp growth is consumption. So lets stimulate consumption in order to strengthen the economy and continue and pick up the pace of recovery. We also need to have our infrastructure investments. We need to rebuild our roads and bridges and ports and transit systems. And again, these are opportunities to create middle class jobs right away. And facilitate commerce for decades and decades to come. Yes, it involves federal spending, but it involves federal spending when Dwight Eisenhower created the interstate highway system, as one of his most induring legacies. As someone who was a former local elected official and worked on transportation issues, i can tell you, we cant build a 21st century infrastructure when were living year to year, month to month on transportation budgets. That is why longterm planning is so critically important. We also need to fix our broken immigration system. And as you know, its not simply a moral or humanitarian or National Security imperative. Its an economic imperative. The cbo estimates that Immigration Reform would increase real gdp relative to current projections by 5. 4 over the next two decades. Which translates into an additional 1. 4 trillion of economic activity. Adding jobs, putting upward pressure on wages, helping to stabilize the Social Security trust fund. So when you think about these three ideas, theyve worked in the past. Theyve enjoyed strong bipartisan support in the past. And we need to do them again now. Because they are critical to our nations continued growth. But we shouldnt stop there, and congress shouldnt stop there. The third step to shared prosperity is that we need to continue to think big, and we need to continue to think bold. Comprehensive Immigration Reform is big and bold. And there are other ideas that we should be using and implementing as well. Let me give you one example. Because this example i have seen across the country in my conversations. Its a sleeper issue that will sleep no more. And that is the issue of paid leave. We stand alone as the only industrialized nation on the planet where paid leave is not the law of the land. Our dismal record on paid leave, for me, was on prominent display when i recently traveled to australia for the meeting of the g20 labor ministers. When you look at other countries, canada, australia, uk, germany, japan, the nordics, others, progressive governments, conservative governments, theyre all leaning in and have been leaning in on leave. But were way behind. They all recognize that paid leave is good economic policy, and good family policy. They know its essential to have thriving businesses and flexible workplaces. These arent mutually exclusive. These are intertwined and mutually reinforcing. Why cant we figure it out here in the u. S. Why are we making People Choose between the job that they need and the family that they love. Why arent we giving people more tools to be attentive parents and productive employees, and how can we say that we continue to be for family values when so many people have to jeopardize their Economic Security to take a few weeks off to have a kid. That is not simply this issue is not simply a matter of doing the right thing, its also an important strategy for reducing Labor Force Participation. Every first friday of the month, the most frequently asked question i get, what can you do, tom, to increase Labor Force Participation . Lets talk about paid leave and compare the United States with canada. The Labor Force Participation rate of women 25 to 54 in the year 2000 in the u. S. And canada was virtually identical. Today, canada is ahead of us by roughly 8 percentage points, in large measure because they have generous paid leave laws, and they provide Affordable Access to affordable child care. If we had simply kept pace with canada over these years, we would have 5. 5 million more women in the work force. The innovation economy would be enriched by this reservoir of Human Capital. Sectors that have serious gender gaps, like the silicon valley, wall street, and elsewhere, would have additional talent to tap. I said before, America Works best when we feel the full team. Theres a lot of female talent on the bench. And thats not right. And heres the rub. When you get those 5. 5 more million off the bench and into the game, we increase gdp by an estimated 3. 5 , which translates to more than 500 billion of additional economic activity. So were essentially, by our inaction, leaving significant amounts of money on the table because were not leading on leave. Earlier this summer the president con veepd a summit on working families. This is what he said. At a time when women are nearly half our work force, and primary anything that makes life harder for women makes life harder for families and harder for children. Wh when women succeed, america succeeds. Theres no such thing. This is a family issue and an american issue. So the bottom line is we need to lead on leave. We need to cultivate talent, which brings me to another critical step in our shared prosperity. And that is the issue of skills. Just as we need to invest in our physical infrastructure, in our transportation infrastructure, we need to invest in our Human Capital infrastructure. We built the railroad system, we built the internet. And just as weve done that, we teed to have a skills ecosystem that builds the needs of our economy. There are two very important pieces of good news in this area. First of all, there are millions of middle class Jobs Available for the taking right now. And opportunities are growing. Many of them require less than a college degree, although they tend to require more than a high school degree. And everywhere i go, my life is ground hogs day. I have the same conversation with employers. This is what they tell me. Tom, im bullish about america. I want to grow my business. It might be manufacturing, health care, i. T. , whatever it is. I need to make sure that we have a pipeline of skilled talent to make it happen. And there are opportunities across sectors. About a quarter of the opportunities in Forbes Magazine lis lists good, middle class jobs. And were working with the industry workers to fill training in those jobs. The same is true in utility industries. Utilities are in a process of dramatically expanding and modernizing the grid. And what that means is they will need more workers. And these jobs start at 50,000 and fwov. I was with tom wheeler last week, the fcc chairman, and we cant expand broadband without middle class workers. We have estimates of over 60,000, 65,000 dental high general hygienists. In many cases, you get the necessary credentials at a Community College and then you build your way up. That is the second piece of good news that i want to share with you is that we are in the middle of a remarkably exciting transz formati transformation. We have gotten rid of what i call the old train and prey model. We train widget makers and we pray someone hires them. Today, were focused on jobdriven training. Were working more closely with others than ever before to understand with precision the needs of employers and granular detail and then making sure that we design programs to meet those precise needs so that people can punch their ticket to the middle class and employers can grow their businesses. So when people ask, hey, tom, what do you do for a living . This is what i tell them. The department of labor is match. Com. What we do is help make a connection. Just the right fit between readytowork americans who wapt to punch their ticket to the middle class and jobs and employers who need and want to grow their business. And the secret sauce of this match. Com is very frequently Community Colleges that enable people to move up that ladder. Let me give you an example of this transformation at work. A couple weeks ago, i met a guy who owns an advanced Manufacturing Business in western mass. His entry level workers start at 2025 an hour and up with very generous benefits. And he described his experience during the great recession. In the middle of the recovery, 2010, 2011, as america wu stras america was struggling to add jobs, steves company was turning away large amounts of business for one simple reason. He had a shortage of skilled workers. He did all the things that economists suggest you do, he raised wages, he increased benefits, dee he dhe did all of and still couldnt recruit the right people. As you listen to all of that, steve said to me he felt like he was living on another planet. Those werent my words, those were his words. So d. O. L. Is match. Com sprang into action. The middle Skill Initiative was born in massachusetts. This initiative is a joint venture of local Manufacturing Businesses, Community Colleges, the work force investmented system which includes federal, state and local government working together. And our grant making was c catalystizing across the country. The father of twins stuck in that lowwage job cycle successfully k34r50completed a Training Program and is now a very highvalued employee of steves company. Its a win for steve, a win for dana and i wanteds a win for america. Were heplping to build these partnerships. Just as president eisenhower built the state highway system, we are building a modernized, refurbished, skills superhigh way that enables to find good workers. Were doing this in partnerships, philanthropy, republicans in democrat and congress and our parter ins in state and local government. The new Work Force Innovation and opportunity act which was passed this summer in a strong, bipart san fashion, will enable us to continue this transformation. This superhighway has plenty of onramps and offramps. Community colleges are one welltraveled path. But were putting up, you know, the orange cones and doing the road work to make that ride much, much smoother. The Obama Administration hmade very bold investmented of roughly 2. 4 billion over the last two years to help inknow v innovate Training Programs. Unfortunately, as a nation, we havent kept up with the necessary renovations in the apprenticeship area. Frankly, weve massively underinvested in apprenticeship. Oh countries are running circles around us. Thats why i spend time at the i. B. E. W. And in philadelphia. Learning from into so many people. And the it is trained jobs for today and tomorrow that paid middle class wages. My folks taught my siblings and me that education is the great equalizer. That continues to be the case today. Whether its a fouryear degree, an associates degree, an online training, that i. B. E. W. Certificate. That guy said tom, ive got the golden ticket. Have you ever seen willy wonka . I said not in a while. He said ive got the golden ticket. I can go anywhere in the United States and make a middle class wage because i have the golden ticket. We want to make sure everybody has the golden ticket. This skills revolution is a critical step in the shared prosperity for millions of job seekers across america. Now, ive talked about a lot of steps and ive got two more i want to discuss before i get to your questions. The recent markets have really stressed the pornsz of workers voice. To him, it wasnt a threat to the country. It was an indispensable asset. And thats always been the case in the history of our country. Worker voice could take so many forms, one of the most important of which is being part of a union. And the Obama Administration continues to be resolute. That when it comes to protecting collective bargaining rights, we need to continue. When i look at history, there is an absolutely direct relationship between the health of the middle class and the health and vitality of the Labor Movement. Lets look at the data. Media weekly income for Union Members were 200 higher than nonUnion Members. That aint pocket change. And that doesnt even take into account for benefits. I saw firsthand that a job in a union shop was a sure fire way to punch your ticket to the middle class. What i saw in buffalo and continue to see here is unions succeed in partnership with business. I was at the plant in louisvi e louisville, kentucky. They were down to under a thousand employees. But they got together the uaw and ford shared sacrifice, a good vision and now they have shared prosperity. Today, over 4400 workers and that doesnt include their supply chain. I see that. I see partnership in action whether its the uaw or the seiu building a 21st century work force. Whether its the folks and the teamsters and ups working together to make sure that ups competes in the Global Economy of 2014. Im going to be spending the entire afternoon at voeklkswage one day and thats a model that we should consider importing in the United States. And they talk about this and this is the Senior Leadership of works council. That is volkswagen speaking. And i think they have a point. Theres so many nonprofits emerging. One of the most recent recipients of one of the m mcarthur genius awards has created remarkable opportunities to advocate on behalf of lowwage workers who are doing gods work in so many different ways. Theres so many other opportunities to give this voice in so many different contexts. I was just recently at a meeting in vermont of the bcourt movement. They are remarkably forwardleading. They stand for the prosigs that you can do good and do well. You have to do good in order to do well. That is why worker voice is so important. Worker voice is simply the importance of leadership. Its an indispensable indispensable characteristic of how we will succeed in this country in bringing shared prosperity to everyone. It has to be leadership from washington. President obama has dem strated that he isnt going to exercise his regulatories to find that leadership. The phone has been ringing off the hook to dol and the pen is running out of ink and we build more pens so that we can provide more opportunity for people. Millions of homes may be eligible for raises when we enact the regulation on overtime. So were going to continue to work on those areas and the president will continue to work on that area there. They recognize that so many people need a raise and theyre not waiting for congress. So we see that leadership. And i see continued leadership from the Labor Movement and other nonprofit leaders. Those are great examples of so many people working together. They define suck says e cess not simply by the size of their membership, but by the number of people that help. I see in my work every day, the Inspiring Leadership from people in the business community. Wage stagnation is defining economic challenges of our time. They are telling me its an investment in their company. The simplistic notion that paying high wages undermines competitiveness or collective bargaining hurts the Economic Growth or that you can take care of your shareholders or your em employees but not both. Its goo f ees good for your b. People who are in Employee StockOwnership Plan see the same thing. They understand that the high road is, indeed, the smart road. The gap, for instance, has made a commitment to paying above the minimum wage. And, by the way, if you looked at the New York Times last week, you would see that, you know, perspective employees are going to places like the gap. And they had a 24 increase in their application since they announced their policies. So we see so many examples, whether its the b corp. Movement or individual corporations like gap and so many others. You see it in every single Business Model around, whether its costco, the gap or so many others across this country. They were talking about a renegade shareholder who wasnt interested in talking long term. This one said id rather be rimp than right. This c. E. O. Said no, i want to act long term. So were going to continue to look long term as a nation. Thats what we have to do. I reca i want to leave you with a story where we started. Thats our friends at Market Basket. They have really captured the imagination of a nation. They have demonstrated that you can do good and do well. Companies like more partnerships. These guys risked everything. People like cindy whelan who started working there when she was 17. She said the company was like family. Hoe talks about how mr. Dem lerks s wuld start every day with precious customers. He always said were in the people business first and the grocery business second. Mark lemioux talked about when the people came into his store when it first opened. We can talk to all of these folks because theyre in the middle of the room here. Theyre all here because this is what we are about. They have showed that shared prosperity is, indeed, a reality in this country. Its our store. Just like its our economy. It belongs to all of us. Its not functioning unless it works for everyone. And i want to leave you now, simply, with the words of their boss, arthur t. But with the words of another boss. His name is Bruce Springstein who said you no what, nobody wins unless everybody wins. And i think we can get there as a nation. So thank you so much. [ applause ] well, if you could remain here. Well try to do some rapid fire questioning. The Unemployment Rate has been falling in recent months, but how flectreflected, is it, realf the ek e real economic situation. For people like catherine hacket, she has a job now. So its a reality for her. Shes punched heretic et to the middle class and 10. 3 million workers are back to work. Too many longterm unemployed. And to too many people who are working hard and havent had a raise in years. Were moving in the right direction. Make sure the prosperity that comes with growth is shared by everyone. If you actually look, and ill see the commissioner, if you look at the last year, for instance, the area that had the most growth in jobs was businesses and professional services. The majority of these jobs are accountants and architects. Jobs that pay quite well. Lowwage jobs tend to be the first jobs to be lost. And they have come back, as well, what we need to do is work on these jobs that are the middle class, middleskill jobs and thats why our skills agenda and our voice agenda and all of these other things outlined, i think they can lead to prosp prosperity across the board. Sir, you said you havent given up the push to provide emergency unemployment benefits. How many weeks of benefits do you think are the right amount for unemployed job seekers. I havent given up the fight. I applause e plaud tapplaud the of jack green, senator collins from maine. Its been a bipartisan effort in the senate. Around i sure wish that leader boehner would do what i do, which is meet with the longtermed unemployed, as i try to do about every three months. When you understand the human face of this, you understand that we need to extend these benefits. Its a lifeline for folks. Its not a lifestyle. The Obama Administration hasnt been able to push through an increase in the minimum wage so far. Is there any reason to think that would change after the midterms . Well, i sure dont have a crystal ball on that, but i sure can tell you that the American People want results. Any of these issues. And i think you continue to ignore the will and needs of the American Voter at your peril. So were going to continue to work with anyone and everyone across the etiological spectrum. Its a talking point in a campaign. Silicon valley Business Leaders say there rbtarent enough work to fill demand in the tech field. I spent a lot of time with folks in the silicon valley. The Leadership Group just released about a week ago, a book that they have with essays from about 20 different leaders across the spectrum. And i have had the privilege of having one of those pieces. What i love about Immigration Reform, and this is not knew e new, is that the support is bipartisan. Everybody that we need Immigration Reform. Thats what it was like when i worked for senator kennedy. I need one hand to count the number of party line votes. This has never been a party line issue. The stories that i hear from people whos families have been broken up, they just tear your heart out. The president isnt waiting. Thats why hes going to continue to take executive aggressive action. We cant help everyone by executive action. What ideas doe you have to fix detroit, the rust belt and other cities that havent been able to retool or rebuild in the present day . We have a detroit task force and we have it out there as a cabinet. We require unprecedented levels of stove pipe implosion. And thats why weve been working together in a cabinet in detroit. Think about it. Were trying to bring more jobs back into detroit. Thats been successful, but so many of the jobs are out in the suburbs. If you cant get there, how can you work there . So were working together obama e on transportation issues. Were working together on the skills infrastructure. So many people are not trained for the jobs of today and tomorrow. And so those are examples of things that e e we continue to do. If Governor Scott welker wins another term, it means he will successfully take on the unions. Will that encourage other governors to do the same in their states . What will that mean for republican employees . Im not going to speck late whos going to win elections on november 4th. I think voice is an indispensable part of shared prosperity. Whether its labor unions, collective bargaining, supporting works councils, supporting organizations like the do pemestic workers align license. The more we can do to support voice in every way, shape or form, the more we can do to build prosperity. What was your first job . And how did it influence your life . Growing up in buffalo, new york, i had three paper routes as a teenager. We used to have morning paper. The courier express. I shagged golf balls at a driving rangs. I wore a helmet. And then i worked on the back of a trash truck. I worked at sears for a number of years. All of those jobs taught me the dignity of work and the value of a job. Now, to your next job, maybe. Attorney general holder has been a lightning rod throughout his tenure at the justice department. Why is that . And what can his successor do to prevent welcoming a lightning rod . Eric holder stood up for kmoon e comm common sense criminal swrus tju reform. These are a lot of the defining issues of our day. You will have folks who oppose you. I do not believe as we prepare to celebrate the 50 thd anniversary of bloody sunday, i dont believe that the enduring voting issue 50 years later of voting fraud. I dont believe that because i did that when i was over there. That is a phantom problem. When eric holder says things like that, people disagree with him. I applaud his candor and the movement that theyve done in that area. I can tell you the department of labors priority should be putting people back to work, continuing the pace of growth and making sure we have shared prosperity. We do have two more in the area of possible next jobs. So if you wouldnt mind . I like talking about my day job here. Attorney general holder has said he journalestists to jail for doing their job, suggesting that james ryson is unlikely to spend time behind bars. Specifically, he said when asked about mr. Ri e yson, i stabd by what i have said if a reporter is doing what he or she does as a reporter, no reporter is going to jail as long as i am attorney general. Would you maintain that position should you happen to become attorney general. I know the attorney general very much values the role of the press. Hoe served as the Deputy Attorney general under janet reno. He understands the critical importance of the press in so many aspects of our life. Well return to the Labor Department for a few questions. Our employers doing their part to trard e train their own workers . Oh, i think one of the biggest aspects and wund of the most exciting aspects of the transformation in our work force system that were seeing is the remarkable transportation. Theyre designed by the industry. When you hire somebody, you know what youre getting. The reason it is is because too Many Employers were telling me that theyre hiring folks, they had a credential, but they didnt know what was blind it. Now that theyre actively engaged in the development of that credential, theyve got skin in the game and they understand it. As a result, they can do so much more. Union strength influence continues to decline in this country. How do we bring back protections and fair play and benefits how do we bring back protections and fair pay and benefits of workers in this area. Well, we start out by studying the experience, once again, of our neighbors to the north. New york times had a story, i believe april or so this year, about how the middle class and the yiet is not fairing as well as the middle class elsewhere. And they used canada as an answer. You look at places like germany where youve got very low youth unemployment, very robust economy. You have robust union density. It gets back to this issue of voice. We need to make sure that we have multiple levels to give workers a level playing field. It works to the benefit of workers, employers and communities, alike. How can we close the wage gap without cleshlgtive bargaining . As i said, i think clekive bargaining is a very important part of the mix here. The health of the middle class and the strength of the Union Movement go handinhand. When they came back to the United States, what they e they ended up doing, they were our labors and fore people i use the word fore people instead of foremen, but they were foremen and forewomen. They helped axel rate the middle class. One of their major accomplishments was that they helped grow the middle class through the importance of collective bargaining. Again, we see so many examples, whether its costco. If you bought a thousand dollars worth of costco stock 15 years ago, youd have 15, 15,000 righ now. Other companies, similar examples, across every Business Model. Air lymes. When i go to b. W. I. Airport, they pay their baggage handlers a fair wage. I was up there talking with corey booker a few months back and that doesnt have to be that way. Thank you. We are almost out of time. But, before asking the last question, we have a couple of housekeeping matters to take care of. First of all, id like to remind you about two upcoming speakers lunches. On november 7th, robert mcdonald. Next, id like to ask you the last question. Can the Labor Department do anything about the Employment Situation of journalists. Fl are a fthere are few thin keep me up at night more than the Employment Situation of journalists. So what we do is hire more journalists so that they can tell our story. As i said when i signed your book, the privilege of signing your book, you are the Fourth Branch of government. Thank you very muff. Thank you for coming today, we are adjourned