LISTEN TO WORKERS ON LABOR DAY

The lesson for this Labor Day couldn’t be clearer. American workers are desperate for the ability to afford a decent life. A recent survey by the bipartisan public policy organization, Economic Innovation Group, showed workers don’t fear immigrants taking their jobs. They don’t care about trade policy. They just want lower prices and affordable housing. More than 1,500 U.S. workers were surveyed. American workers do not share Trump’s protectionist views. Instead they said said the US should pursue free trade with other nations by a 51-point margin. Workers were also far more likely to view imports positively (41 %) or neutrally (27%) than as a career threat (22%). And when asked which issue workers LEAST wanted lawmakers to pursue, they put tariffs at the top of the list by a wide margin. Tariffs were the least popular option across almost every demographic — men and women, White and non-White, college and non-college-educated, old and young, urban and rural. Workers also gave the president poor grades on his handling of trade and tariffs: Just 32% rated Trump’s performance as “excellent” or “good,” compared with 63% who deemed it “fair” or “poor.” Tariffs are deeply unpopular, even though their full economic impact hasn’t yet been felt at the checkout counter. So what do workers want ? Simple: to make America affordable again. The cost of everything is just too high. More than 2/3 of workers said that reducing the costs of everyday goods or housing would be the best way to make life better for them. Trump’s handling of inflation and the cost of living received the lowest approval from workers — worse than for immigration, the economy, the stock market, taxes, jobs and other key issues. 54% overall — and more than two-thirds of independents — said that Trump’s handling of their top concern has been “poor.” Defending the administration’s tariff agenda, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that “access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American Dream.” But after years of sticker shock, cheap goods are precisely what workers are demanding. P.S. When someone from the top 10%, or maybe even 1%, is telling you your concerns are not valid, beware. The top two sources of workers’ financial stress are the costs of products and services, and the cost of housing. But the disconnect between the billionaire class and the rest of us leads to shrugs when heavy tariffs are slapped on everyday goods such as coffee and bananas. Where does Mr. Trump think we might get these items instead? And more than 9 in 10 workers said housing has become too expensive. A large majority said the federal government should “use all the tools at its disposal to make it cheaper and easier to build housing where it is needed most.” Something this president and his administration never have to worry about in their own lives. Austerity for thee, not for me.