Good morning/afternoon sisters and brothers. It’s an honor and a pleasure to be here with you today.
I want to extend greetings from the IAM’s International President, Tom Buffenbarger, and from the entire IAM Executive Council.
We deeply appreciate the efforts of each and every union in the Kentucky AFL-CIO.
Despite everything that’s been said and written about the supposed demise of the House of Labor, I want to say that there is no other organization in North America today that is more active -- and more effective -- in the fight to protect the lives and livelihoods of workers and their families, than the Labor Movement.
We meet here today not at the beginning of that fight, and certainly not at the end.
As a great American said in another century, “These are times that try men’s souls.” It is no less true today, than when Thomas Paine said it in 1776.
It seems impossible that we should be faced with such strong opposition to the most basic rights that a democratic society has to offer: Freedom of association for example, is nothing less than the right to form a union.
Tens of millions of dollars are now being spent by business groups and political extremists to suppress our right.
Conservative lawmakers also seem to have no problem with denying American citizens their basic rights. The National Labor Relations Board recently ruled that some employees are not free to associate with fellow employees on their own time. “On their own time!!!”
In the name of national security, the current administration pushed through sweeping changes for work rules governing federal employees.
And those rules could wipe out collective bargaining rights and civil service protections for as many as 700,000 government workers.
I am personally outraged that government officials would suggest that membership in a labor union is in any way a hindrance to national security.
And not only do they imply it, they promote the idea of unions as a threat at every opportunity. Starting with the former Secretary of Education Rodney Paige, who called the Teachers Union a “terrorist organization” when they had the nerve to demand a better contract.
Those rules that would eliminate collective bargaining rights at the Department of Homeland Security were recently blocked by a federal judge – a judge appointed by, guess who, George W. Bush - by the way his own camp is getting fed up with his anti worker rights positions – but the battle is far from over.
Their ultimate goal is to move the same kind of restrictions into the private sector. And it’s already happening. A private sector employer of airport security personnel was recently notified that its employees would not be permitted to join a labor union.
The reason they gave? National security.
That should send a chill down the spine of every union member, no matter where they work.
It should also make them, and us, fighting mad. We worked too long and too hard to have the right to organize and bargain collectively taken away by anyone – let alone that Son of a Bush in the White House.
Well! There’s another basic right under a different kind of attack.
The U.S. Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
And if you ask me, I’d say the right to life includes health care. That’s right, health care.
And right now, more than 40 million Americans are being denied that right because they can’t afford to pay sky high insurance premiums.
Now I don’t recall anything in the Constitution that says the rights and benefits would be available only to citizens who could afford it…do you?
Of course not. But that’s the way this government looks at so many of the rights and protections that are contained in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
So maybe it’s not a surprise that state and federal elections are the object of such attention these days.
Let’s face it, the ballot box may be the last place in this country where we can still shout as loud, and make as big a difference as the next person.
And I’m hoping that more of us will take that opportunity in the next election. And I’m not talking about just the next presidential election. If we don’t win some key governor races in the next election cycle, our chances of taking the White House in 2008 will be a lot harder than they need to be.
Look at what happened in Indiana and Missouri. These Republican Governors’ first official act was to terminate bargaining rights for tens of thousands of public employees.
Kentucky’s, Republican Governor, Ernie Fletcher, ordered 8 of his cronies to fire all state government employees that were registered democrats. They did! The Attorney General brought charges against all 8 of the cronies and they were indicted by the Grand Jury. Then, our infamous Governor Fletcher pardoned all 8. The Grand Jury subpoenaed Governor Fletcher and he pled the Fifth.
Now, he has the gall to announce that he will run for a second term.
I got news for him. He won’t make a second term - we’ll defeat him. The people of Kentucky can see through people like Governor Fletcher.
New Mexico and Illinois have Democratic Governors. Workers faired much better from striker replacement limitation to card check elections.
These two states have Governor’s who care about working men and women.
Now I know I don’t need to convince the people in this room.
We’ve been on the front lines of these fights for longer than I care to remember.
But it’s our movement and our country that’s under attack. I feel stronger about this than anything I can think of.
It’s a disgrace the way our government is treating its most loyal citizens.
After the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, it was union members – uniformed fire, police and emergency service workers, who poured into those buildings and saved thousands of lives at the cost of hundreds of their own.
And it was union members by the thousand who marched on that smoking pile of destruction in New York and worked non-stop to pull survivors from the ruins.
It was the same story in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast after hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit.
One by one, in two’s and three’s, men and women from across the country quietly loaded up their trucks and drove to where their fellow citizens needed them.
That’s the kind of country we are, and that’s the kind of men and women we represent.
And what did our President do? After a disgraceful fly-by in his 747, and a photo op or two, he signed an order that wiped out the Davis Bacon wage protections in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida.
I don’t know about you, but I can hardly wait for the next election.
I want to put this entire era into the history books where it belongs.
I want to get back to making this country a better place for all our citizens – not just those who make more than $200,000 a year.
I want to see good quality health care available for every American -- like our neighbor to the North whose citizens enjoy a National Health Care Plan.
I want a level playing field and a chance for our members to get a fair shake at bargaining tables across America.
We can achieve these goals, but we must grow in numbers to do this and be even more politically active than in the past.
I know we can count on each you to help us grow the labor movement. Each of you know someone who works in a non-union facility. Talk to them about organizing. Be proud of the labor movement. Talk it up every opportunity you get. It’s not about money. You sell the labor movement on what is in your heart. It’s our responsibility to preserve the labor movement and pass it on to our replacements as our forefathers did for us.
The Machinists Union has no intention of letting our forefathers down. We will work hand-in-hand with our Sisters and Brothers to organize and help grow the Labor Movement and to place worker friendly representatives within government offices including kicking that son of a Bush out of the White House – it should be a working person’s White House!
Thank you very much.
