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Tue
Seniors Draft Grassroots Action Plan Meeting in Las Vegas, delegates to the IAM Retirees Conference hammered out a detailed plan to make their voices heard—both at the ballot box and from City Hall to Capitol Hill. The delegates, including more than two dozen from Canada, participated in a series of instructive workshops focused on political organizing and lobbying techniques. Delegates heard from a range of distinguished guests, including IP Tom Buffenbarger. “The skill, the experience and the wisdom you gained during your working lives are potent weapons in our unceasing struggle to win fairness for all,” he said. These economic wars must be won in the marble halls of Congress and Parliament, in the legislatures and town halls of North America. “As legislative advocates working together towards our common goals, we can overcome the powerful interests of those who oppose us. We have the know-how to wage, and to win, these wars,” Buffenbarger said.
Retired IP George J. Kourpias, who now heads the Alliance for Retired
Americans, was among the list of distinguished speakers slated to address
the conference. Other speakers included GST Warren Mart and members of the
IAM Executive Council, members of Congress and representatives from
advocacy groups with similar interests.
Raytheon Moves Wire Work to Mexico
The bitter news for employees comes despite months of work by IAM members at Raytheon who sought to preserve their jobs with proposals designed to increase productivity and cut costs. Raytheon officials have said they want to outsource all of the company’s component parts manufacturing, keeping only final assembly. The move is expected to financially devastate hundreds of Wichita families, including many who worked at Raytheon for decades. With each Raytheon job that is lost, up to 4 additional jobs in the surrounding area are expected to disappear.
More than 2,000 jobs at Raytheon have been eliminated since the
industry-wide downturn began in 2001. However, many believe not all the
cuts are necessary. “These are not the results of 9-11,” said Steve
Rooney, president of District 70. “These are the result of companies using
the disasters of 9-11 to further their own agendas.”
Vote Now to Stop FTAA The ballots, arriving daily from IAM districts, locals and individual members, will be delivered to the trade ministers of the Western Hemisphere when they converge on Miami on Nov. 20 and 21. The FTAA, often called ‘NAFTA Times 10,’ is a plan to envelop all countries of the Western Hemisphere – except Cuba - in a NAFTA-like free trade deal. More than 800 million people in 34 countries would be subject to decisions that could cost millions of jobs and devastate entire communities as companies move operations across borders in search of the lowest wages, the loosest environmental regulations and the sharpest repression of labor unions.
More than 500,000 individual ‘Stop FTAA’ ballots were distributed
in the Fall 2003 issue of the IAM Journal. Additional ballots are
being circulated at IAM conferences, classes and at local lodge meetings.
To request more ballots call the IAM Trade and Globalization Department at
(301) 967-4596. For more information about the FTAA, go to
www.aflcio.org/stopftaa.
Wall of Shame Highlights Bush Job Loss
Local 917 President Elected Mayor District 1 DBR Danny Chmelko said he looked forward to having labor’s voice in Nesquehoning and Scranton. “Labor sent a clear message to both Democratic and Republican candidates in Pennsylvania – “If you’re not for working families, you’re out,” said Chmelko. Additional Election Day winners include Eastern Territory GLR James D. Smith, who was re-elected to a third term as Mayor of South Lebanon, Ohio and David Schooley, District 57 DBR, who won re-election to the Hicksville, Ohio School Board.
“The IAM encourages all members to become active on the local state and
federal level and to always remember that no matter how well your union
negotiates a contract, it can be wiped out by a single stroke of a
politician’s pen,” said Eastern Territory GVP Lynn D. Tucker.
CLUW Launches Cancer Awareness Project “The project promotes increased screening and annual follow-up for union women and their families,” Eastburn said. The five-year project, funded by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control, will educate union members on the risk factors for cervical cancer and the critical need for regular screening to ensure early diagnosis and screening.
Evidence suggests that annual screening rates for cervical cancer saves
lives, and knowledge of the risk factors can help women take action to
drastically reduce their chances of getting this form of cancer. A
majority of women are hearing the message and being screened, but a
significant minority are not. “With this grant, we can help change that,”
Eastburn said. Past iMail | Your Email | Visit www.goiam.org | Print Version | Sign-Up for iMail 
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