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#62 English 4/10/06

EFCA Spells Freedom

Defeating the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is a top priority for George Bush, Dick

Cheney, the Department of Labor and nearly every corporate lobbying group from the

Chamber of Commerce to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).

Why? Because EFCA would bring their union-busting free ride to an end. After hijacking

the system intended to protect the right to a fair union election, corporations have had near

total freedom to threaten, terminate and illegally discriminate against any employee who

dared to exercise his or her legal right to form a union.

EFCA would grant union representation as soon as a majority of employees in a workplace

signed cards indicating they want a union, unlike the present system which guarantees a

lengthy period of time between the start of a campaign and an election.

No longer would anti-union employers have the time to mount campaigns of intimidation

and harassment, often employing sophisticated union avoidance law firms that specialize in

breaking the law while appearing to only bend it.

From organizing campaigns at Reynolds Tobacco in Winston-Salem, NC, to Mercedes-

Benz in Tuscaloosa, AL, workers who wanted to join a union were subject to illegal surveillance,

threats and sophisticated fear tactics that are more appropriate to military dictatorships

than the land of the free and the home of the brave.

It is worth remembering that EFCA does not break significant new legal ground. It does not

add substantially to organizing laws already on the books, nor does it limit corporations’

legal rights. EFCA simply ensures American workers have access to something they have

had for nearly a century – the right to form a union and bargain collectively.

Contact your elected representative today. Tell them if they want your support, they should

be giving their support to the Employee Free Choice Act.

 

#58 English 8/31/06
     RallyAround.Us
On November 7th, ninety million Americans will cast ballots. And in 36 states,
those voters will elect chief executive officers – governors – who will have the
power to ease the financial strain so many of us feel.


Governors can have a significant impact on five pocketbook issues, an impact
that can save Machinists hundreds if not thousands of dollars every year. Those
issues are Jobs; Utility rates; Insurance premiums; Commuter woes and Educational
equity. And that spells JUICE.


So, who has the JUICE in your state? Who can electrify voters? Who can
make real progress on those pocketbook issues?


Answering those questions is up to you. But one thing is clear, if working
families don’t get involved in these governors’ races, then those questions will
never be debated. And legislatures will be able to ignore these issues.


So we’re asking our members and their families to get involved and help elect
governors who can make a real difference in our lives, and in our wallets.


Let these candidates know how you feel, even before the election. A special
IAM website – www.RallyAround.Us – gives you a chance to be seen by the
whole country.

Log onto RallyAround.Us and add your name to its virtual wall. You will be
joining thousands of working men and women who pledge to go vote on
November 7th and to vote for a governor who has the JUICE.

Then forward that link to all your friends, relatives, co-workers and neighbors.
Get them interested and involved in these governors’ races. Ask them to Rally
Around Us!

 

 

#57 English 06/26/06

     Redneck Revolution

Country music singer Gretchen Wilson brought her Redneck Revolution Tour to Washington,

D.C. recently. And, except for the 25,000 fans at an all-day music festival, the political

establishment paid her little notice.

Big mistake. Wilson’s lyrics reflect a tidal wave of emotion running like a riptide below the

surface of public debate.

Her song "Politically Uncorrect" captures the feelings of millions of blue collar workers all

across North America. She starts with:

I'm for the low man on the totem pole

And I'm for the underdog God bless his soul

And I'm for the guys still pulling third shift

And the single mom raisin’ her kids

I'm for the preachers who stay on their knees

And I'm for the sinner who finally believes

And I’m for the farmer with dirt on his hands

And the soldiers who fight for this land

Wilson's final refrain goes like this:

Nothing wrong with the Bible

Nothing wrong with the flag

Nothing wrong with the working man, me and Ol' Hag

We're just some of many who can't get no respect

Politically uncorrect, Politically uncorrect.

Think of those lyrics next time a Washington or Ottawa politician or pundit issues another

polished sound bite.

This single mom from Pocahontas, Illinois is making history. With an eighth grade education

and years of tending bar at Big O's on the outskirts of her hometown, Gretchen Wilson’s

first album, “Here for the Party,” proved to be a quadruple platinum recording. Little

wonder. There's some down home wisdom in her lyrics.

 

 

#56 English 5/17/06

              Surge

In a world where regional conflicts can quickly spread out of control, taking stock of our

own industrial resources to see if we can meet potential challenges is simple common sense.

At a unique roundtable meeting at Machinists headquarters in Upper Marlboro, the IAM

asked the hard question: will America have the ability to manufacture the means of our own

defense seven to ten years from now?

The disturbing conclusion after two days of discussions is no, not really. Defense firm executives,

industrial policy experts and IAM representatives with manufacturing and defense

sector responsibilities all agreed that we are increasingly dependent on a dubious supply

chain with multiple weak links.

More than two decades of outsourcing and subcontracting have replaced home grown

manufacturing capacity and sophisticated tooling expertise with a cost driven system that

values the least expensive over than the most reliable.

From tanks and ships to aircraft, ammunition and electronics, our armed forces rely directly

or indirectly on supplies from countries including Brazil, Japan, Turkey and even China.

Participants at the Surge Roundtable weighed the fact that this country no longer makes a

battlefield tank and outsourcers production of over a half billion rounds of M-16 ammunition.

Just as sobering is the steady loss of human expertise. The graying of America’s skilled

workforce and looming wave or retirements portends a time when we will need to rely totally

on foreign workers to supply our most sensitive defense needs.

The Surge Roundtable triggered a lively debate among the participants about America’s

manufacturing future and our capacity to meet challenges posed to our national security.

That debate will continue for the next thirty months and lead to a broader awareness of how

a shrinking industrial base impacts national defense.

 

 

#55 English 03/02/06

     Grand Theft Pension

Pensions differ from traditional pay and benefits in one important way. Pensions are what

economists call “deferred compensation” – rather than receiving all your pay today in the

form of wages, some is put off to the future, to be received once you retire.

Generations of Americans have understood that this trade-off; wages today for pensions tomorrow,

is the key to enjoying a middle-class standard of living in retirement.

Pension promises are only as secure as the funds backing them up. That’s why the law requires

companies to set aside money to pay for pension benefits their employees have

earned.

But many companies have spent years contributing the bare minimum required by law,

leaving pension plans with too little money to cover promised benefits. Rather than restoring

their pension plans, many financially weak companies have instead targeted pensions

for elimination.

Enough is enough!

We need to reform the pension laws. Pensions are deferred compensation. These benefits

have been bought and paid for at the bargaining table. Companies should be held to tougher

standards to ensure that pension promises are backed up by hard dollars.

We need bankruptcy laws that support pension plans, instead of undermining them. And we

need to hold companies to their pension promises at the bargaining table. It is much too

easy for companies in bankruptcy to dump their pensions. And it is unacceptable that employees

are losing hard-earned benefits when they do.

Congress will be taking up the issue of pension reform in the coming months. The IAM is

lobbying on your behalf in Washington to hold companies accountable for their pension

promises. Stay tuned and be ready to join the fight to protect your pension!

 

 

#54 English 01/27/06

        Blood & Treasure

Anyone looking to understand the turbulent state of today’s airline industry can find similarities

in a business strategy developed centuries ago.

Throughout the sixteenth century, bloodthirsty buccaneers sunk ships, sacked towns and

terrorized entire populations. They enriched themselves in the name of country and under

the cover of law.

Men like Sir Francis Drake and Captain Henry Morgan were honored by the King of England

even as they left thousands floating in their wakes. Rape, torture, murder and enslavement

became a day at the office on the high seas.

A similar brand of state-sponsored terrorism – air piracy – survives to this day. Its victims –

the men and women who work in the airline industry – suffer grievously from raids on their

pension funds and the destruction of their jobs.

Men like Glenn Tilton of United Airlines and Doug Steenland of Northwest Airlines gain

stature on Wall Street by shaking down their workers until every last wage and benefit concession

is extracted.

After stripping off all loose assets and ravaging stockholders, they reward themselves with

lucrative post-bankruptcy life boats worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Under the latest plan proposed by UAL, Glenn Tilton and his crew stand to divvy up as

much as $480 million in equity upon the company’s emergence from bankruptcy.

Tilton, already the nation’s highest compensated airline CEO, could collect a lottery-like

windfall valued at more than $40 million just for waking up on the day after the carrier

emerges from bankruptcy.

It’s high time we recognize what’s happening to the airline industry in America: It is being

hijacked, stripped of its most valuable assets and left to the mercy of foreign investors who

will finish the job. If this is not piracy, what is?