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IAM President Tom Buffenbarger welcomed delegates to the 36th
Grand Lodge Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Convention hailed
the critical role IAM members play in the U.S. and Canadian
economies as ‘North America’s Might.
36th Grand Lodge Convention Salutes
IAM
North America’s Might
Delegates to the
36th Grand Lodge Convention set a bold path for growth with a new fund
for organizing and a call to elect politicians who will protect North
American jobs. The theme of the Convention was ‘IAM North America’s
Might,’ a tribute to the key roles IAM members play in the North
American economy.
From Machinists who operate generators inside the Grand Coulee Dam to
aerospace, airline and rail workers who build, operate and maintain the
nation’s transportation system, “our jobs and our members are essential
to North America’s economy,” said IAM President Tom Buffenbarger.
Thanks to a state-of-the-art array of cameras and high-resolution
projection screens, every delegate at the 36th Grand Lodge Convention
enjoyed a front-row view of the gavel-to-gavel proceedings. Buffenbarger
credited the IAM Host Committee and convention planners for creating a
weeklong event that one veteran of every Convention since 1960 called
“the best IAM Convention” he’d ever seen.
Delegates heard from speakers and panels of experts on a wide range of
topics, including solutions to the healthcare crisis, using capital to
work for labor and protecting jobs. As a sign of the growing global ties
among the world’s labor unions, the largest international delegation in
Convention history was on hand in Cincinnati.
Highlights of the 2004 Convention included an appearance by Democratic
Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards, who brought the delegates to
their feet with a pledge to make card check elections the law of the
land and a promise to end tax breaks for companies that move U.S. jobs
overseas. “We should never allow companies to pick up, go overseas and
then use children to do their work,” said Edwards.
Defending Jobs
CNN news anchor Lou
Dobbs was also welcomed by delegates as a hero for his steadfast defense
of workers and communities across North America. “We are in a very, very
perilous moment in this country’s history,” said Dobbs, who blasted
officials of both political parties for their failure to respond to the
grim toll of failed international trade agreements.
Delegates, who spent hours deliberating over proposed resolutions and
constitutional amendments, welcomed the addition of high-profile guest
speakers and elected leaders to the convention agenda. “It all came
together to make for a very memorable week,” said General
Secretary-Treasurer Warren Mart, who delivered a comprehensive report on
the union’s financial shape.
“The last four years have been some of the most difficult years our
great Union has experienced in some time,” said Mart. “We’ve seen
horrible attacks on our country, our jobs, and our ability to provide
for our families. That we are still here today speaks to the fighting
spirit in all of us.
“All of us are
looking to make the future brighter for our children and grandchildren,”
said Mart. “We owe it to ourselves, to our members and to future
generations of Machinists.”
Organizing Fund
Delegates took a big
step to secure the IAM’s future when they unanimously approved an
amendment to make a one-time transfer of $30 million from the $150
million Strike Fund to a new Organizing Fund.
The investment
income generated from the initial $30 million will be used for
organizing activities.
“Success in organizing is critical to preserving the IAM’s ‘critical
mass,’” declared President Buffen-barger in an address that set future
organizing goals.
“Your union is committed to growth,” said Buffenbarger. “If we do our
jobs, if in each district we can make a net gain of 250 new members per
year, when we next assemble in convention we will have 500,000 members.”
Organizing,
political action and preserving the union’s financial stability were
themes that ran through nearly every speech and delegate action of the
quadrennial event.
Centralized Accounting
On the Convention’s
third day, delegates approved a landmark resolution to provide for a
centralized system within each district lodge for the collection of
membership dues and to provide for the distribution of per capita taxes
and monthly reports.
The Centralized Accounting System (CAS) will also protect local lodge
financial officers who must manage the new mountain of financial forms
and filings required by federal law.
Delegates also overwhelmingly approved a resolution authorizing the IAM
Executive Council to withdraw the IAM from the AFL-CIO if actions by
that organization ever threatened the IAM’s “autonomy, integrity or
independence.”
The defensive resolution is in response to the emergence of a so-called
‘reform movement’ within the federation that aims to unilaterally
consolidate the 60 existing unions into as few as 15.
Kerry Endorsement
A thorough
examination of the Bush Administration’s dismal four-year record toward
unions and working families led delegates to a unanimous endorsement of
John Kerry and John Edwards on the final day of the convention.
“This election is a fight for the very existence of labor unions,” said
Rep. Dick Gephardt, who was hailed by President Buffenbarger as “labor’s
congressman at large.” Gephardt said he was “absolutely convinced”
President Bush would push for a national right-to-work law if he was
reelected.
Political Rally
Former Georgia
Senator Max Cleland brought the JOBS! message home in an address at a
nighttime rally on the third day of the Convention.
Cleland, who lost three limbs in Vietnam, cited Ohio’s current job loss
rate as the highest in the nation. “It’s not just the State of Ohio,”
warned Cleland. “It’s the state of our nation that’s at stake.”
Presidential
candidate John Kerry, right, at the Gunslick Gun Club in Holmen, WI.
Kerry joined in
a round of trap
shooting with District 66 Directing Business Rep. Tom O’Heron, far left,
and others.
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