Labor issues you care about in streaming video.

Bipartisan Panel Urges Congressional Action on China
November 30, 2006 - A Bi-partisan panel is urging Congress to take stronger action to bring China in line with their trade obligations.

Video: Working Families Expect Results from Governor Elects
November 20, 2006 - Thanks to a critical push by working families – Democrats picked up six governor seats across the country last week.

Video: Voters Offer a Clear Mandate for Minimum Wage Increase
November 20, 2006 - Voters in six states voted overwhelmingly to increase the minimum wage last week – a clear sign that Americans are ready for Congress to finally raise the federal minimum wage.

Video: Health Care Costs, Declining Wages Batter Working Families
OCTOBER 10, 2006 - As real wages continue to fall and health care costs spiral out of control, working families are struggling to stay afloat.

Video: 2007 Day of Action
OCTOBER 3, 2006 - From air and rail to auto and trucking, transportation is essential to our lives. But the industry has fallen on tough times over the last few years, leaving its workers unsure about the future.

Video: What Is Ford's Future?
SEPTEMBER 21, 2006 - On June 16, 1903, Henry Ford And eleven associates, with about $28,000 in cash started what would become a leader in the automotive world, Ford Motor Company. Fast forward a century later to find a very different picture. Today it’s a company struggling to stay afloat.

Video: DC Labor Film Fest
SEPTEMBER 21, 2006 - For the sixth year in a row, Washington DC hosted its annual Labor Film Fest. A compilation of long and short, big budget and documentary films looking at labor issues. Sponsored by groups like the Debs Jones Douglass Institute and the AFL-CIO, it's a way to bring attention to the working men and women of the world.

Video: Republican Gubernatorial Candiates Running 'Bait and Switch' Campaigns
SEPTEMBER 21, 2006 - Aware that they are out of line with the values of working Americans, many Republican gubernatorial candidates are falsely campaigning on highly selective but liberal sounding issues heading into the November elections.

Video: Record Highs For China
SEPTEMBER 15, 2006 - For the fourth month in a row, China's trade surplus with the United States hit a record high in August of more than $19.6 billion dollars. The U.S. is on track to have a $150 billion dollar trade deficit for 2006 with China, a fifty percent increase in just one year.

Video: A Century Old Celebration
SEPTEMBER 8, 2006 - As part of the IAM's 2006 Solidarity Tour, the group headed to Michigan where thousands crammed the streets of downtown Detroit to show their support for the men and women who created the middle class.

Video: A Labor Day To Remember In Ohio
SEPTEMBER 7, 2006 - Union leaders and thousands of union members rallied in Ohio this Labor Day weekend at the Lorain County Labor Day Picinic where they cheered on gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland.

Video: Pennsylvania Has The Juice
SEPTEMBER 7, 2006 - Over Labor Day weekend the IAM along with other labor leaders traveled to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Detroit, Wisconsin and Connecticut to urge union members to get involved and vote in the upcoming midterm elections. The first stop was in Allentown, PA with Governor Ed Rendell.

To view these videos you will need to download the free Windows Media Player 9

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RJ Reynolds Agrees to Post Union Notices

The anti-union tobacco giant RJ Reynolds in Winston-Salem, NC, has agreed to post notices advising employees of their right to organize a union at all facilities involved in last year’s union election for nearly 2,000 production and maintenance workers.

The agreement by RJ Reynolds is in response to Unfair Labor Practice charges brought before the National Labor Relations Board by the IAM, who joined forces with Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International (BCTGM) to bring representation to the notoriously anti-union workplace. While the election fell short, it was the closest workers at RJ Reynolds came to winning a union in nearly 30 years.

“Workers at RJ Reynolds were made to fear for their jobs if they voted for union representation,” said Southern Territory GVP Bob Martinez. “It’s a violation of federal labor law to make such threats, but the process is slow and the remedy is rarely strong enough to reassure employees that their rights will be fully respected. We need labor laws in this country that are every bit as strong as the people who depend on them.”

During the organizing campaign, Reynolds conducted captive audience meetings with employees, threatened to close the facility if employees voted to join a union and hired a union avoidance law firm.

National Magazine Misleads Seniors on Part D

A recent ad in Parade Magazine and elsewhere regarding the Part D open enrollment season that ends December 31 is deceiving readers. The ad, placed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, features a checklist where the second step incorrectly states, “If you are satisfied with your current cost, coverage and the customer service you receive, you don’t need to do anything.” The ad fails to explain that costs and coverage have changed for many of the prescription drug plans.

“CMS should explicitly mention that many plans have changed and while you may be happy with your current coverage, you need to make sure it will be there in 2007,” said Edward Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans. “The misleading nature of this ad follows the trend of CMS not revealing the entire truth about Part D to the public.”

Last year, while CMS and the Bush Administration were peddling the so-called benefits of Part D, CMS failed to mention that nearly 7 million beneficiaries would fall into what is now known as the “donut hole,” added Coyle. “Part D is still flawed, and deceitful ads such as the one by CMS won’t cover that fact.”

Solidarity on Display at Raytheon Picket Lines

Fueled by determination to win a fair contract and resolved to hold the line on health care costs, members of Local 933 in Tucson, AZ are moving in to their fifth week of a strike against profit-rich Raytheon Missile Systems.

Despite a recent 41 percent increase in earnings per share, Raytheon’s contract offer would increase employee health care costs by 87 percent over the life of the agreement, and block new and rehired employees from participating in the company’s over-funded pension plan. More than 90 percent of Local 933 members rejected Raytheon’s offer.

“We tried to get an agreement with Raytheon, but this company was insistent on reducing the standard of living for the families of these workers even as the announced tremendous profits from their defense contracts,” said Local 933 DBR Bobby Martinez when the strike began.

Last Call for Advanced Editor Course Applications

There’s still time to send in applications for the IAM Communications Department’s Advanced Editors class, to be held February 4-9, 2007, at the William W. Winpisinger Education and Technology Center in Placid Harbor, MD. The Advanced Editors course offers intensive training on news writing, research and other skills. Click here for a copy of the call and application form or call the Communications Dept. 301-967-4520. Applications must be in to the Communications Dept. by December 9, 2006.

Rising Imports Called ‘Slow Motion Bloodbath’

The same kind of import-driven losses that have pushed Ford and General Motors to the brink of bankruptcy are being replicated in dozens of other domestic industries, including high tech, value added sectors, according to research released by US Business and Industry Council (USBIC).

The grim outlook for the U.S. manufacturing sector was discussed in a recent segment of CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight, where USBIC Research Fellow Alan Tonelson likened what’s happening in American manufacturing to a “slow motion bloodbath.”

Imports now account for 46 percent of the U.S. computer market, 56.5 percent of the telephone switching market and 78 percent of the critical machine tool industry, where imports have spiked from a 40 percent share in 1997 to a 62 percent share last year.

“Most people have thought of what’s going on here for the last number of years to people with low end factory jobs. It’s not. It’s very skilled workers in our manufacturing facilities,” said Bob Baugh of the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council.

According to the USBIC research quoted on the Dobbs program, 110 U.S. manufacturing sectors lost market share to foreign imports over the past seven years, while only seven sectors gained.

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IAM members can now purchase union gear online at the IAM Store. Members can buy a variety of IAM related products such as t-shirts, jackets, jewelry and caps — all emblazoned with the IAM logo.

IAM Journal
Fall 2006

Gridlock in Washington, D.C. makes state capitols the place for innovative action working families care most about. Find out who has the JUICE in your state.

Get Ready for the Day of Action.
The Transportation Department is preparing for a major March and Rally on May 17, 2007, in Washington, DC. Thousands of working men and women from every state of the Union will join us on that day to say “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!”
For more information, visit 17may07.org

The 2008 Convention website is online. The site features updates, travel tips, convention news reports, info for the media, and official convention gear. Check it out.

IAM Member Benefits mean money-saving discounts for IAM members and their families.

Enter member ID: PS16626766 when ordering online or call 1-877-289-9437. When ordering, you must reference code: PS16626766 to receive your union discount.

See who works for you, how the IAM is structured, and what services the IAM offers.
Go to: IAM2006

FlatRateTech is an organization “created for and by Ford and Lincoln Mercury service technicians solely to speak as one loud voice rather than 50,000 smaller voices.” according to their website The fast-growing site offers forums for Ford customers, technicians and dealers to exchange information.

IAM
Executive Council

Tom Buffenbarger
International President

Warren L. Mart
Secretary-Treasurer

Lee Pearson
GVP Western Territory

Dave Ritchie
GVP Canada

Robert Roach,Jr.
GVP Transportation

Lynn Tucker
GVP Eastern Territory

Robert Martinez
GVP Southern Territory

Richard Michalski
GVP Headquarters

Philip J. Gruber
GVP Midwest Territory