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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?