INDIANA'S GREEN CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE ATTACTS OPPONENT FOR REMARKS
Jeff Melton publicly criticized incumbent Democrat Baron Hill for his inability to respond adequately to worker concerns, including Hill's sexist answer to one worker's question.
(PRWEB) March 14, 2002
CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE MELTON CRITICIZES INCUMBENT HILL'S REMARKS AT CAMPAIGN APPEARANCE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 6, 2002
BLOOMINGTON--Today, the Green Party's 9th District U. S. Congressional candidate, Jeff Melton, publicly criticized incumbent Democrat Baron Hill for comments Hill made during a Feb. 1 appearance at Ivy Tech State College. "In Indiana, we have lost 30,000 manufacturing jobs to such free trade agreements as NAFTA. Yet most of Hill's comments were a defense, and a poor one, of 'free trade' and Fast Track legislation." Melton noted that, while Hill claimed most of those laid off by corporations such as G. E. and Otis Elevator would eventually find higher-paying jobs, over 95% of net new jobs created since NAFTA was signed have been in the service sector. Locally, service sector workers earn only 65% of the pay of their manufacturing industry counterparts, and are far less likely to have such basic benefits as health insurance.
"I wasn't convinced, and I doubt many other people in the room were, either," said Melton. "He couldn't produce any evidence to support his claim save an anecdote about one person who got a good job after being laid off, and when an audience member cited a study finding significant income loss by NAFTA-downsized factory workers, all he could say was that he didn't believe the study. He also claimed that (corporate-friendly) globalization was inevitable, and that's just not true. We can create economic institutions and agreements that are a lot friendlier to the interests of working people than the ones he supports."
"So many of the students at Ivy Tech are people who have lost jobs because of the policies Baron Hill supports," said Dave Johnson, a Computer Technology Services employee at Ivy Tech. "I talk to them every day, and their situation is totally different from the way Hill portrays it. Students should not be penalized for trying to improve their situation, but that's what's happening to a lot of them who were laid off by companies like G. E. and Thomson."
Hill's response to another audience member's question shocked many in attendance. "During the question period, a student who had been laid off from G. E. told Hill that she had three kids, she was working two jobs, she was trying to go to school, and she wasn't sure she would be able to get a decent-paying job after she graduated," said IU senior Rebecca Riall. "Hill told her not to worry, that she was 'young and attractive' and thus would find something. As a working student myself, I found Hill's sexism and callousness to real survival concerns unacceptable."
Melton agreed. "For an elected official in this day and age to make a remark like that in a public forum is just astonishingly insensitive. He also didn't seem very sensitive to the concerns of workers in general, attributing them to 'fear of a global economy' rather than real experiences of being unable to meet basic economic needs. But I guess that's not surprising. While G. E. was destroying jobs in our community, they were helping him keep his by contributing $2000 to his campaign."
Contact: Rebecca Riall
Melton For Congress Campaign Committee
Webmaster@meltonforcongress. org
Http://www. meltonforcongress. org (http://www. meltonforcongress. org)
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