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Tuesday February 25,  2003


Springer Speaks to Machinists
IP Tom Buffenbarger introduced talk show host and former Cincinnati mayor Jerry Springer to a labor gathering in Miami, where the one-time Ohio gubernatorial hopeful was encouraged to run for the U.S. Senate.

“For 30 years, this man has been a personal friend and a friend to the IAM,” said Buffenbarger. “Long before his television career, Jerry was elected and re-elected to public office in Ohio where his empathy for working families was unquestioned. He is considering a return to public service and I sincerely hope he will do so.”

Known primarily as the host of one of television’s most successful venues, Springer said last month he would decide by this summer whether or not to launch a run for the seat now held by Ohio Republican George Voinovich.

“If I can help my state and my country by becoming a candidate, then I will do so,” said the 59-year old Springer. “If I can help in some other way, I’m ready to do that also. Either way, I intend to fully exercise my rights and responsibilities as an American citizen.” 

Health Care Costs Set Record
Health care spending rose by a record 8.7 percent in 2001, according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Medical goods and services purchased for the elderly was the “major reason” cited for the increase, CMS said. That spending included hospital services and prescription drugs.

Total spending for health costs reached $1.4 trillion in 2001. This figure represents 14.1 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product—the largest share ever reported, CMS said. The CMS report projected that U.S. health care spending will reach $3.1 trillion in 2012.

This dismal statistic comes at a time when more and more Americans are losing health care protection of any kind. President Bush sidles closer to privatizing Medicare and Medicaid, but few details have been made available.

The Bush plan came under harsh criticism from Public Citizen, a Washington, DC-based consumer group. The group said the White House plan means “less choice of doctors, unreliable coverage for beneficiaries and higher costs for taxpayers, due to the inefficiencies of private plans.”

Send a Message to Maytag
Despite record sales and profits, Maytag CEO Ralph Hake announced that he will close the company’s Galesburg, IL, refrigeration manufacturing facility.

Nearly 1,600 Machinist union members currently produce a quality, American made product at the Galesburg facility. Those jobs will be lost when Maytag moves production to a new facility in Reynosa, Mexico, where the company pays its workers less than $5.00 per day.

Click http://www.goiam.org/communicator/form.cfm to tell CEO Ralph Hake and the Maytag Board of Directors what you really think about their plan to move good paying, union manufacturing jobs to Mexico. Complete the form or customize the message and just click 'send'. A letter will be sent, in your name, to the Maytag Board of Directors.

Transportation Unions Set Goals
Nine policy resolutions were adopted by delegates of 35 member unions at the semi-annual meeting of the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department (TTD).

Included were resolutions urging opposition to a binding arbitration bill supported by the airline industry; opposition to privatization of the nation’s air traffic system; a call for federal certification of flight attendants and opposition to excessive and overreaching measures by the Transportation Security Administration.

The delegates also called for sufficient funding for Amtrak; condemned efforts to weaken air cargo security and urged passage of legislation to modernize Chicago's O'Hare airport.

Recognized for their positive efforts were U.S. merchant mariners, pilots, and flight attendants participating in Operation Enduring Freedom and in the war on terrorism.

TTD represents the interests of several million aviation, rail, transit, trucking, highway and longshore workers before Congress and independent government agencies.  The IAM is the largest of 35 unions affiliated with the TTD. For more information about these resolutions, visit the IAM web site at www.goiam.org/territories.asp?n=33.

Social Security: A Lifeline for Children
The nation’s most progressive, and successful, social program reaches far beyond retirees and senior citizens. Social Security provides benefits for more than five million children under the age of 18. Children’s benefits are based on the same formula used for retiree benefits. Misguided efforts to “privatize” Social Security would change that formula and lower benefits for children as well as for retirees.

According to the Social Security Information Project, three million children receive benefits as dependents of deceased, disabled or retired workers. At the same time, more than two million children who do not receive benefits themselves live with relatives who depend on Social Security checks for a major portion of their income.

Finally, children who receive Social Security have an average family income that is 25 percent lower than the average for all children in the U.S.

Check the Record, Not the Rhetoric
Here’s a quick and easy way to see where your U.S. Senators and House members voted on nearly two dozen key working family issues in Congress last year. The AFL-CIO’s online Congressional Voting Record shows you their records for last year, as well  as their lifetime “right” or “wrong” record on key union and working family legislative proposals. You can find the voting record at www.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/votes.