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www.tradealert.org
is a new website run by the USBIC Educational Foundation, dedicated to
protecting American interests against the damaging effects of
international trade.
During the past seven years of Conservative
government in Ontario, working people
and their unions have been under attack by the provincial
government. Changes to labour laws have left Ontario with the worst
employment standards laws in the country. It's time for Ontario
Government decertification.
Hector Ramirez
tells how he loaded as many people as he could on his train, rescuing them
from the Courtland Street - WTC Train Station.
Get Your Convention Gear
Check out gear for the
2004
IAM Convention
Order your 2002 IAM Calendar
Now. The 2002 calendar features winners of this year's IAM Photography
Contest.
Send a check for $5.00 to:
IAM Calendar
c/o IAM Communications
9000 Machinists
Place
Upper Marlboro, MD
20772-2687
Local Lodges and Districts
can download
a bulk order form for large calendar requests.
The IAM
Executive Council
International President
R.
Thomas Buffenbarger
Secretary Treasurer
Donald
E. Wharton
GVP Western
Territory
Lee
Pearson
GVP
Canada
GVP Canada
Dave
Ritchie
GVP Midwest
Territory
Alex
M. Bay
GVP Headquarters
Robert
V. Thayer
GVP
Southern
GVP Southern
Territory
George
Hooper
GVP Eastern
Territory
Warren
L. Mart
GVP Transportation
Robert
Roach, Jr.
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Tuesday, February 5,
2002
Buffenbarger Blasts
Bush,
Bogus Congressional Ploys
A feisty crowd of delegates and
guests sent waves of applause ricocheting through the hall as IP Tom
Buffenbarger flayed the Bush administration and a complacent Congress in
a ringing keynote address to the MNPL National Planning Committee,
holding its annual meeting in Savannah, GA.
Buffenbarger scoffed at Bush’s “smoke-and-mirrors economic policy”
and castigated Congress for acting with unseemly haste to bail out Big
Business and the rich, while ignoring jobless workers and the truly
needy. He pointed out that Congress speedily found $15 billion for a
floundering airline industry in the wake of Sept.11. “But here we are
two days after Ground Hog Day and they haven’t come up with one red
cent for laid-off airline workers,” he declared.
Bush promised to leave the Social Security trust fund untouched,
Buffenbarger explained. “He lied. Bush blew the budget surplus he
inherited from Bill Clinton with his massive tax cuts for the wealthy.
Now he’s going to sop up the Social Security pensions so many working
Americans count on for their retirement years.”
On another front, he demanded that Congress keep it hands off the
contentious negotiations impasse at United Airlines, where Bush invoked
a Presidential Emergency Board to thwart the bargaining process.
“Our members at United have every right to determine their fate. Let
our members and UAL management settle that contract, not Congress,” he
emphasized.
He praised the delegates for their dedication to the fight for social
justice and economic security for workers, adding: “It is time to make
serious changes. It is time to elect a Congress that cares more about
working families than it does about Big Business. We can make that
happen. Indeed, we must make that happen.”
Rich Michalski, legislative/political affairs director, said IAM members
raised nearly $2.8 million in voluntary contributions last year, just a
fraction less than the record $3.1 million in 2000, a presidential
election year when political interests are much higher.
Harley Members
Ratify New Agreement
Kansas City IAM members who make
the country’s most famous motorcycles voted to accept a 5 ˝ year
contract proposal, giving workers and the legendary company a degree of
stability that is unusual in the current economy.
“The new contract increases wages, benefits and health insurance for
union members in Kansas City,” said Jim Pinto, IAM Director of
Collective Bargaining. “We also continued our agreement that put into
place the High Performance Work Organization, in which many decisions to
run the business are made by consensus of both parties.”
Nearly 720 workers are covered by the pact, including IAM members of
Local Lodge 176 and members of Local 5-0760 of the Paper,
Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union
(PACE).
The long-term deal was reached even though two years remain on the
union’s current contracts. Harley Davidson will now focus on expanding
facilities in Tomahawk and York, PA as part of plans to boost overall
production.
Call goes out for
2002 IAM Aerospace Conference
The 2002 IAM Aerospace Conference
will be held May 4-9 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Seattle, Washington. The
Conference will focus on new ways of building a stronger domestic
aerospace industry, with expanding union employment, greater job
security and better conditions in the globalized economy.
To obtain the special
Conference hotel rate of $139.00 a-night room rate (single or double
occupancy), make reservations directly with the Crowne Plaza by calling 800-521-2762
or 206-464-1980. You must tell the hotel you are attending the
IAM Aerospace Conference and make your reservations no later than March
29.
Conference registration will take place Saturday, May 4, noon – 6 p.m.
and May 5, 8 a.m. – 10 a.m., when GVP Robert Thayer opens the first
session. The Conference
will close at noon Thursday. Registration is $65.00, which includes a
buffet dinner and entertainment Monday evening at Tillicum Village, a
Native American cultural center. (Guest tickets for that event are $25.)
Locals and Districts are responsible for all delegate expenses,
including registration fees. Delegates will participate in
corporate-wide meetings, according to their employer: Boeing; Lockheed
Martin; Jet Engines and Raytheon; Light Aircraft and All Others.
The all-union Metropolitan Travel Agency is prepared to handle air
travel arrangements for all IAM Lodges who desire their services. Call 800-662-6363
at least 30 days before your departure date to receive the least
expensive fares.
Judicial Nomination
Draws Union, Civil Rights Fire
The IAM is joining the NAACP, the
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the AFL-CIO and other civil
rights groups in opposing Charles W. Pickering’s nomination to the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Pickering first came to public attention as a law student and author of
a controversial article about how the Mississippi legislature could
change state law to criminalize interracial marriage. As a State Senator
he voted to deny full voting rights to African-Americans and opposed
full implementation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
As a U.S. District Court Judge, Pickering voted to support the
“Sovereignty Commission,” a state-funded agency established to
oppose integration following the landmark desegregation decision in Brown
v. Board of Education.
A hearing on Pickering’s nomination is scheduled for Thursday,
February 7. The Senate Judiciary Committee will then vote on whether to
approve the nomination and send it to the floor.
IAM
Nominates Knapheide Manufacturing Company For Labor-Management Award
Stable
and productive labor relations are the general rule in unionized work
places, even though the conflicts usually make headlines. That is why
the AFL-CIO’s Union Label & Service Trades Department recognizes
employers who go the extra mile to establish positive relationships that
qualify as exemplary. IAM IP Tom Buffenbarger nominated Knapheide
Manufacturing Company of Taylor, MO and Quincy, IL for the 2002 Labor-
Management Award.
“This IAM-represented company proudly displays the IAM logo and has
provided good jobs for our members for many years,” said Buffenbarger.
The
award is presented annually at the opening of the Union-Industries Show,
scheduled this year for April 5, 2002, in Minneapolis, MN. More
information is available at www.unionlabel.org.
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