Finding Aviation History in Pittsburgh
One of the eight African-American “Rosie the Riveters” featured in the Spring 2004 IAM Journal (Searching For a Part of History) has been located. Althea Skelton has been living in Pittsburgh, PA since World War II ended.

Skelton had moved to Seattle with her Navy husband in May 1944 shortly after the two were married. He was stationed at Bremerton, but soon was assigned to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. She shared housing with the wife of another sailor and both worked at Boeing.

Althea Skelton (left) with her own copy of a photo taken in 1944 of herself and seven other African-American Boeing workers.

Although she had clerical experience, the company didn’t hire African-Americans for those jobs. Instead Skelton worked as an electrician on the afternoon shift.

Five-time delegate Cecilia Blackwell of Local 774 in Wichita, Kansas was one of many IAM members who made sure IAM issues were heard at the Democratic Convention.
 

Machinists in Force at Democratic Convention
Machinists union members from 13 states arrived at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, MA, ready to serve as state delegates, alternates and key committeepersons. They came to ensure IAM members’ election year concerns about jobs, pensions and healthcare were met by the party activists.

“The IAM effort to make 'JOBS! Worth Fighting For’ a key ingredient in the economic platform of the Democratic Party clearly paid off,” said International President Tom Buffenbarger, one of three IAM members in the Maryland delegation. “We have solid commitments from the Kerry-Edwards team to end the big business free-for-all that cost more than three million jobs and untold hardships during the past four years.”

Union members protest outside the Department of Labor against Bush
Administration overtime cuts.

Overtime on the Line
Stopping the Bush Administration’s new limits on overtime pay is a huge incentive for millions of union members to head to the polls on November 2nd.

The regulations could eliminate overtime eligibility for up to six million workers in the U.S.

“If employers no longer have to pay time and a half for overtime work, they will demand longer hours instead of creating more jobs, taking money from the pockets of middle class working families,” said Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), a leader in the fight to block the Bush Administration’s new overtime rules.

Harkin’s efforts were supported by Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), who vowed to overturn the overtime regulations if elected.

“We need a President of the United States who stands up and fights for your overtime, not one who takes your overtime away,” Edwards said to union members in Ohio.
 

Kerry On Target with IAM Members
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry took a break from the campaign trail to join in a round of trap shooting at the Gunslick Gun Club in Holmen, WI, with a group that included IAM representatives from District 66.

“It certainly was a memorable event,” said Tom O’Heron, District 66 Directing Business Representative. “We had a good time shooting and I had a chance to talk to the Senator about the number of manufacturing jobs lost in this area. He said he’s very concerned about jobs and was opposed to the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Congressman Ron Kind (D-WI), who was there, also opposed CAFTA.”

O’Heron said Kerry was a good marksman. “The Secret Service wasn’t used to so many guns being carried by people who weren’t Secret Service,” said O’Heron. “Senator Kerry is an avid sportsman and he expects to continue hunting and fishing after the election.”