If there's any solace to be found in the nation's current fiscal dilemma, it's that it has silenced the din of anti-union voices. In the past, these voices prematurely sounded the death knell for America's labor unions, clamored for the privatization of Social Security, and argued that average Americans can manage their own retirement accounts - without government oversight of the financial markets.

These same voices also said that left to its own devices, Wall Street would take care of Main Street.

Today, we hear different voices. We hear cries of "save us" from Wall Street and unfettered free-marketeers. We hear calls for help from our federal government: the very same government that had a hand in creating the fiscal debacle we have today. And, regrettably, those of us on Main Street — working families — are the victims of the deregulation, lax oversight of financial institutions and systematic dismantling of labor laws designed to protect workers that have landed our economy where it is today.

Of course, no one in the labor movement is gloating over the nation's current economic crisis. We realize that it's our members who are suffering now and who could be left holding the bag after the bailouts are divvied up.

Growing unemployment (nearly 600,000 so far this year), foreclosures on millions of homes and two-income households still unable to make ends meet are severe blows that are hitting home — quite literally. And as distasteful as some aspects of the bailouts may be, most labor leaders understand that the risk to our members' futures requires us to support immediate actions that have the potential to protect what we can of that future.

The AFL-CIO, of which NYSUT is a proud member, very correctly has called on the federal government to implement a new economic stimulus plan that includes an immediate moratorium on foreclosures, extension of unemployment insurance and aid to states and cities to prevent further cutbacks of vital public services.

Likewise, one of our national affiliates - the American Federation of Teachers - is urging lawmakers to include in any bailout package initiatives that balance the concerns of Wall Street with the concerns of Main Street, as well as to ensure that relief for working families be part of the government's response to the crisis. (For more on that effort, go to http://www.aft.org/.)

While immediate remedies are necessary, long-term safeguards are imperative. A balance between the needs of employers to increase profits and the rights of workers to expect fair wages and benefits — including the security of knowing that their retirement benefits are protected — must be achieved.

Economist Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute described it this way: "The difficulties facing American workers predated the recession. There may be no more telling statistic … than the fact that the real wage for the median male was lower in 2007 than in 1973. For the last few decades, (workers) have been losing employer-provided health coverage or paying more out of pocket for premiums, health services and medications. Their pensions are less secure and the majority have flipped from guaranteed benefit to guaranteed contribution, shifting the risk of an adequate retirement benefit from their employer to themselves and their family."

The disparity in income between the working middle-class and wealthy Americans cannot be allowed to continue to increase. Government's failure to prudently monitor markets and its failure to provide protections for workers who wish to be unionized must be reviewed with carefully thought- out regulations and legislation such as the Employee Free Choice Act that can once again allow unions to be the spokespersons and advocates for working America.

A mistake in New York

Unfortunately, New York state — already reeling due to its role as the nation's financial capital — appears prepared to perpetuate more ill-advised public policy. There are loud rumblings these days in Albany about deficit-induced budget cuts and cuts in services and programs. And no area is feeling the fiscal pain more than public higher education.

In New York City, the City University of New York has been slashed by $68.3 million. Upstate, the State University of New York has been cut twice in recent months, for a total of $148 million. And that figure does not include the state's order to reduce its non-general fund spending by as much as $109 million.

Budget cuts of this magnitude affect every aspect of campus life — from academic programs to student aid to food service.

They impact not only our public university systems, but our private colleges and universities as well, and they put untold pressure on our outstanding community colleges.
And they make absolutely no sense. Certainly not now.

In fact, cuts to higher education during financial downturns often have an impact opposite of what was intended.

They thwart the state's economic competitiveness and negatively affect our ability to train — and retrain — the workforce required to meet the needs of employers and entrepreneurs eager to help revitalize the economy.

Our colleges are already having a much more difficult time attracting the faculty that a first-class university system needs.

And campuses are already reporting plans to reduce admissions, not fill faculty vacancies and offer fewer and larger classes in the face of severe cuts. Students will be shut out as class sizes increase and be forced to reduce schedules as aid drops and tuition rises.

Graduation in four years will become more and more difficult — if students can afford to stick it out until they graduate at all.

And it's not just faculty and students who will be harmed. Small college towns — places like Morrisville, Cobleskill and New Paltz — depend upon their SUNY schools to fuel their economy and provide employment opportunities. Often, the campus is the social and cultural lifeblood of the community. Cutbacks would be devastating to these communities and only exacerbate the state's fiscal woes.

United University Professions, NYSUT's affiliate representing the academic and professional faculty at SUNY, understands this point very well and has just embarked on a "Main Street" campaign that reminds campus communities across upstate New York that public education is not the problem. No, they argue: "SUNY is the $olution."

It's a clever message that needs to be heard, not only in small town New York, but in the halls of the Capitol in Albany as well. And it's a message that NYSUT will help spread as we marshal our legislative and public relations resources to support public higher education in New York state.

In an economic crisis, we need to revitalize opportunities on Wall Street while protecting small businesses and working families on Main Street. In both cases, SUNY, CUNY and our community colleges are the solution!