GOP Scuttles
Jobless Benefits Plan
Republican
leaders cited a “booming economy” as the primary reason for killing
a plan to extend federal jobless benefits through the holiday
season. Democrats denounced the move, saying that 80,000 jobless
Americans face a bleak Christmas as a result of the GOP action.
“For too many
families, unemployment benefits are about survival,” said Rep. Nancy
Pelosi, D-CA, the House minority leader. “They are never about
luxury. It is about whether kids go to bed hungry, not about whether
Christmas dinner is catered.”
Democratic Rep.
Jim McDermott, whose home state of Washington has one of the highest
jobless rates in the country, weighed in with an even more scathing
indictment. “This recovery is a mile wide and an inch deep—two out
of every three people will not find a job.”
Even the Labor
Department reported that long-term unemployment has reached a
20-year high, with 21 percent of the unemployed remaining jobless
for six months or longer.
UTC Workers Ratify New Contract
IAM members at
UTC Fuel Cells in South Windsor, CT braved a winter snowstorm and
miles of unplowed roads to vote by a 6 to 1 margin for a new 3-year
contract with the aerospace firm. Ninety five percent of the
represented workers attended the ratification meeting and approved
the new accord by a tally of 127 to 21.
The contract includes wage increases of 3% this year, 3% in 2004 and
2.5% in 2005, while retaining a semi-annual Cost of Living
Adjustment. The UTC workers, who are members of IAM Local Lodge
1746, will also receive a $500 bonus next week.
Under the new contract, pensions will go up $2.00 per month per year
of service, effective January 1, 2004. IAM negotiators also won
enhanced retirement options for UTC workers facing layoff and gained
new contract language allowing IAM members to move with their work
if it is relocated in Connecticut. Management, however, insisted on
shifting more health care costs onto employees, raising premiums and
stripping health insurance assistance for future retirees.
“These
negotiations show once again why we need a national solution to the
issue of health care,” said Jim Parent, IAM chief negotiator for the
UTC workers. “Even well-off employers like UTC say they can't afford
to pay escalating costs. Their answer -- to dump costs onto their
employees -- is no solution. We need national health care, and we
need someone in the White House who will work to help make that
happen, instead of ignoring the problem."
Bush Signs ‘Sham’
Medicare Bill
President Bush
signed a so-called Medicare “reform” measure that drew surprisingly
little support from the people it was allegedly designed to
benefit—the nation’s senior citizens.
A
Washington Post- ABC News
poll found that a plurality of seniors over age 65 oppose the
ballyhooed plan by a 47% to 26% tally. Those in the 55 to 64 age
group opposed it by a 46% to 32% score.
On a related
note, more than 3,000 AARP members, angry at that organization for
supporting the bogus Medicare plan, tore up their membership cards
and joined the Alliance for Retired Americans, according to an
Alliance spokesman Ed Coyle. “We welcome with open arms any older
American who shares our goals and wishes to help us convince
Congress to get back to work and pass a real bill,” he said.
Workers Rights
Are Human Rights
On Dec. 10, tens
of thousands of workers, community activists, religious leaders and
elected officials will add their voices and their weight behind a
single message: Workers’ rights are human rights.
Dec. 10
commemorates the anniversary of the ratification of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The declaration guarantees the
right of people in every nation to come together into unions and
bargain collectively.
More than 40
million Americans say they would form a union today if given the
chance. But when they attempt to form a union, they are routinely
harassed, intimidated, coerced—and even fired. When employers and
the government suppress the freedom to form unions, wages lag, race
and gender pay gaps widen, civic and political participation is
undermined. Millions of U.S. workers want collective bargaining but
are denied that fundamental right.
In
rallies, marches, public hearings, candlelight vigils and other
events, workers will tell their own stories about why they want a
union and what happens to them when they try to form one. Dec. 10
will mark the beginning of a campaign to educate the public about
employer abuses and mobilize union members and allies to change weak
labor laws.
For more information about the assault on workers’ freedom to form a
union and to find out about Dec. 10 events in your area, visit
www.afl-cio.org.
Phil Gruber Named
Midwest Territory AA
Phil Gruber, a
31-year IAM member and long-time District 9 Business Representative,
will continue his union service on Jan. 1, 2004 as Administrative
Assistant to Midwest Territory GVP Jim Brown.
Gruber, an
experienced tool and die maker, holds a number of additional
positions including President of the Missouri State Council of
Machinists, Secretary-Treasurer of the Midwest States Conference of
Machinists, Secretary-Treasurer of the National Tool & Die
Conference and Chairman of the District 9 Joint Apprenticeship
Committee. He is also a member of the National Planning Committee,
the Law Committee, the Board of Directors for Guide Dogs of America
and the Board of Directors for United Way of St. Louis.
After launching
his career at Ehrhardt Tool and Machine in the1970’s, Gruber served
as Steward and later Chief Shop Steward. From there, Gruber was
elected Treasurer and President of Local Lodge 688.
In 1987, Gruber
joined the staff of District 9 in St. Louis where he served as a
Business Representative and Assistant Directing Business
Representative before becoming District 9 Directing Business
Representative.
IAM Posts
Wins in
Texas, New Mexico
and Florida
Vertex Aerospace
employees in Texas and New Mexico voted to join the IAM in separate
elections. Fourteen workers in El Paso, Texas who maintain
surveillance aircraft for the U.S. Customs were concerned about low
wages and poor health care coverage. “They’ve seen the great
contracts we’ve negotiated for other Vertex units in Tucson, AZ and
Corpus Christi, TX,” said IAM Organizer Don Barker. “They are
excited about their future with the IAM.”
News about
better wages and benefits won by IAM-represented workers at other
Vertex locations spurred another win among Vertex employees at
Kirtland AFB in New Mexico. Employees there voted by a 2-to-1 margin
to join the IAM.
“Thanks go to our newest members for voting IAM and everyone
who worked on this campaign,” said Western Territory GVP Lee
Pearson. “DBR John Lamar and GLRs Mike Wardle and Ray Rivera did a
tremendous job.”
In an additional
Southern Territory organizing win, maintenance workers and supply
clerks at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida voted unanimously for
IAM representation. “They found that the IAM was successful with
other units at Tyndall, and wanted to be part of it,” said Southern
Territory Organizer Ray Moffatt. The new members will join Local
Lodge 449, part of District Lodge 75.
“I want to welcome our newest members
into the Machinists family,” said Southern Territory GVP Bob
Martinez. “The strong contracts we negotiate for our members draw
even more workers eager for the good wages, benefits and protection
only a Machinists Union contract can provide. Congratulations to the
Organizers for the wins.” |