Good morning/afternoon and thank you all very much for being here this weekend.
President Buffenbarger sends his best for a successful conference, and on behalf of the entire Executive Council, I want to say thank you for re-electing each of us to new four-year terms.
It’s a privilege to serve this great union and an honor to have your support in these extraordinary times.
And while we’re on the subject of extraordinary times let’s talk about what’s been happening to the IAM over the past few months
The Grand Lodge Convention was less than a year ago, but already it feels like distant history. How many of you were there?
Within weeks after we concluded an extraordinary debate over the finances and future direction of our union, the crisis on Wall Street literally exploded.
Trillions in investment value was wiped out, setting the nation and the world on an economic disaster ride that is far from over.
There’s no shortage of reasons and causes for the biggest financial meltdown since the Great Depression.
Bad loans, greedy corporate executives and a banking industry that operated like a giant Ponzi scheme are just a few.
But the belief that Wall Street could regulate itself and protect investors at the same time is fast being recognized as the central reason for the crisis.
Simply put, the financial markets in a capitalist system require strong oversight, controls and enforcement to operate properly.
But for the last eight years, we’ve had Free Trade as the religion and “Deregulation” as the gospel.
And not just in the financial markets.
The energy industry has been deregulated, with no shortage of chaos there.
We were told repeatedly that any kind of government control was anti-American and would stifle our nation’s ability to compete.
And believe it or not, the apostles of deregulation point to the airlines as a deregulation success story.
Of course, these are the same people who tell you, how well NAFTA is working.
Maybe it began with Ronald Reagan declaring that “government was the problem,” but that was just the beginning.
Deregulation ruled the roost at federal agencies charged with consumer protection, environmental oversight and even the health and safety of this nation’s workers.
It was like something out of George Orwell’s book, “Animal Farm,” this blind belief that workers and the public could somehow benefit by being unprotected.
But make no mistake, deregulation has been the law of the land for years, and this country is paying a terrible price for it.
I don’t know about you, but the next time any of these free market, deregulation believers come anywhere near being elected or appointed to public office, I plan to demand a security deposit.
Something in the order of a couple of trillion for starters.
I wouldn’t rent a car to them, let alone give them the keys to the U.S. Treasury.
Not that there’s much left there but stacks of IOU’s.
But I want to talk about the IAM and how we’re faring.
Since the Grand Lodge Convention in September of 08’, we are down nearly 16,000 dues paying members.
As of March 31, 2009, we have 388,684 dues paying members. Total Membership is 639,241.
There are locals and districts that are truly dedicated to organizing and we’ve had some victories. We thank those who continue to organize and grow this union.
But as the credit markets collapsed, the wheels of industry began to grind to a halt and layoffs increased dramatically.
The numbers are staggering. Every month, the IAM is losing approximately 3,000 members.
While the rate of layoffs has slowed recently, there’s no reason to believe we’re out of the woods.
I want to pause a second here and again say thanks to the delegates for taking the action they did to update our dues structure at the last convention.
While we had no idea what was waiting for us when we left Orlando, we would be in far, far worse shape if the delegates had not taken the action they did.
I’m sure many of you are coming to terms with the unique particulars of your own financial situation.
It’s not unusual to hear of 401k funds and retirement accounts that have lost half or more of their value.
Many families have put off college for their kids, retirement for themselves, and all the while hoping they don’t get sick, because there are still 47 million Americans without health insurance.
That would be Health Care, another industry enjoying the benefits of deregulation.
But back to the investment scorecard.
Thanks to a sound and conservative investment strategy, the IAM National Pension Plan did not lose as much as many others, but we’re still down 29 percent on investment return. The average plan lost around 45% on their investments. The IAM National Pension Fund was able to claim the green status for 2009.
The Grand Lodge Plan did slightly better, losing 20 percent.
Combined with the costs and expenses of fighting the Bush administration and their corporate cronies for the past six years, our General Fund is down 46.5 million dollars since 2002.
While we will continue to watch every dollar going forward and make every effort to keep this union financially strong, the only answer to this crisis is to increase our membership numbers.
Which brings me to another matter, and that’s the Employee Free Choice Act.
There are so many good reasons to support this legislation that it’s hard to know where to start.
The middle class in this country simply doesn’t stand a chance without unions, and unions need serious labor law reform.
We all know what it’s like trying to organize today.
The penalties for breaking the current law are so weak that companies don’t think twice about firing workers who try to organize.
There’s an enormous industry built around illegally preventing workers from organizing unions.
And an enormous amount of money flowing into organizations like the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable, who are lead dogs in this fight.
Their main talking point, which is being repeated everywhere -- from talk radio to Fox News – is that EFCA will eliminate secret ballot elections.
We may know better, but we need to recognize that this simplistic but potent argument can sway people who don’t know better.
And as long as our opponents can keep the debate focused on secret ballots, there’s less time to focus on the parts of the legislation they’re really afraid of.
And that’s binding arbitration for a first contract and big penalties for breaking the law.
The corporate boys talk all the time about secret ballot election, but they’re absolutely terrified of the arbitration requirement.
This is more than just making sure employees can exercise rights they already have.
In fact, the arbitration requirement may be the most historic change to U.S. labor law since FDR.
Even in those workplaces that manage to organize under the current law, companies know they can surface bargain while they launch what amounts to a terror campaign for a de-certification vote.
It’s not fair, it’s not legal, but it’s cost effective and that’s all that matters to these people.
The only answer is to change the law.
These people have been trying to deregulate worker protections for years, including their right to organize.
It’s time to fight back. We may never have another opportunity like this.
This is our TIME.
But I have to tell you I’m more than disappointed with the Senators and Representatives who are walking away from this fight.
All the talk of compromises and substitutes makes me sick.
We have every right to demand something from the people we helped elect.
They knew this was a key issue for us and turning their backs now is unacceptable.
