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Read Obama’s Labor Day speech

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Updated 9:17 AM Tuesday, September 8, 2009

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Cincinnati! Thank you. Thank you, Ohio! Thank you. Thank you, labor! All-righty. It is good to be back in Cincinnati. It’s good to be back in Ohio. It’s good to be back among great friends, great leaders. And I want everybody to give a big round of applause to Charlie Dilbert for that great introduction. And I want to thank Kathy Mattea and the band for the entertainment. Give Kathy a big round of applause.

How you all feeling today? Are you fired up? Are you ready to go? I can’t think of a better place to be on Labor Day than at America’s biggest Labor Day picnic, and with the workers and families of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO.

I’m so proud to be on the stage with Charlie, because Charlie reminds us that in these tough times, America’s working men and women are ready to roll up their sleeves and get back to work.

I want to salute your local AFL-CIO local leaders: Executive Secretary-Treasurer Doug Sizemore, President Joe Zimmer, State President Joe Rugola. And your outstanding national leaders: a man who we thank for devoting his life to working Americans, President John Sweeney. He’s right there. And the man who will pick up the mantle, who will take the baton of leadership, who we need to succeed because a strong labor movement is part of a strong economy — Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka.

Although Ohio’s wonderful governor and great friend of mine Ted Strickland couldn’t be here, we’ve got Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher in the house, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, Attorney General Richard Cordray, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, Hamilton County Commissioner, Commission President David Pepper.

We’re joined by members of Ohio’s outstanding congressional delegation: Congressman Steve Driehaus -- -- and a great friend who is at the forefront of every fight for Ohio’s working men and women, including the battle for health insurance reform, Senator Sherrod Brown.

I’m also proud to be here with a leader who is reenergizing the Department of Labor, who realizes that it’s not the Department of Management, it’s the Department of Labor -— a daughter of union members, a daughter of a Teamster — Secretary Hilda Solis. My director of recovery for auto communities and workers, Ed Montgomery, is in the house, and he’s doing outstanding work.

Now, Cincinnati, like a lot of Americans, you’re having some fun today. Taking the day off. Spending time with the kids. Some of you may be proud of your grilling skills. Every man thinks he can grill — whether he can or not. That’s what Michelle says. Michelle says she’s a better griller than me. I don’t know. We’ll have to have a grill-off someday. But you’re enjoying some good music, some good food, some famous Cincinnati chili.

But today we also pause. We pause to remember and to reflect and to reaffirm. We remember that the rights and benefits we enjoy today weren’t simply handed to America’s working men and women. They had to be won. They had to be fought for, by men and women of courage and conviction, from the factory floors of the Industrial Revolution to the shopping aisles of today’s superstores. They stood up and they spoke out to demand a fair shake and an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work.

Many risked their lives. Some gave their lives. Some made it a cause of their lives -- like Senator Ted Kennedy, who we remember today.

So let us never forget: much of what we take for granted -- the 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, health insurance, paid leave, pensions, Social Security, Medicare -- they all bear the union label. It was the American worker -- men and women just like you -- who returned from World War II to make our economy the envy of the world. It was labor that helped build the largest middle class in history. Even if you’re not a union member, every American owes something to America’s labor movement.

So as we remember this history, let’s reflect on its meaning in our own time. Like so many Americans, you work hard. You meet your responsibilities. You play by the rules. You pay your bills. But in recent years, the American Dream seems like it’s been slipping away, because from Washington to Wall Street, too often a different attitude prevailed. Wealth was valued over work, selfishness over sacrifice, greed over responsibility. The right to organize was undermined rather than strengthened.

That’s what we saw. And it may have worked out well for those folks at the top, but it didn’t work out for you and it didn’t work out well for our country. That culture -- that culture and the policies that flowed from it -- undermined the middle class and helped create the greatest economic crisis of our time.

So today, on this Labor Day, we reaffirm our commitment. To rebuild. To live up to the legacy of those who came before us. To combine the enduring values that have served us so well for so long -- hard work and responsibility -- with new ideas for a new century. To ensure that our great middle class remains the backbone of our economy -- not just a vanishing ideal we celebrate at picnics once a year as summer turns to fall. We want it a reality for the families of Ohio and the families of America.

That’s what we’ve been working to do ever since I took office. Now, I notice some people have already forgotten how bad it was just seven months ago. You notice that? They’ve got sort of selective amnesia. So let’s just remind them for a second. A financial system on the verge of collapse; about 700,000 workers losing their jobs each month; the worst recession of our lifetimes threatening to become another Great Depression.

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