NEW YORK: Boston (CNN) President Barack Obama lambasted Republican presidential candidates, charging the GOP is treating American workers like a hostile force while looking out only for the rich. Obama delivered a Labor Day speech in Boston, where he traveled to unveil a new executive order he signed forcing companies who contract with the federal government to provide paid sick leave to their employees.
Obama, saying he was relieved to not be on the ballot next November, hit at Republicans who he claimed were espousing policies that would erode the middle class.”We’re starting to hear a lot about middle-class values,” he said. “Some folks seem confused about what exactly that means.””The president told the crowd of nearly 800 union members that organized labor had help secure basic American worker rights like weekends off and a 40-hour workweek.
And he joked if a membership is good enough for Boston’s highest-profile member of organized labor, its good enough for other working Americans.”Even Brady’s happy he’s got a union,” Obama said, referencing New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who was aided by the NFL players union in successfully fighting a four-game suspension for allegedly under-inflating footballs last year.
Obama’s Labor Day announcement on paid sick leave came after a set of similar orders requiring federal contractors to boost paychecks and conditions for their workers, including expanding overtime compensation, banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and raising workers’ minimum wage.
