IAM Re-launches Site The relaunch of the IAM website, goiam.org, took place Friday, May 11. Haven't checked it out yet? Point your browser to: http://www.goiam.org, or click the "go" button below-right.

Catch The Union Buzz Up-to-the-minute reports from other labor unions affiliated with the  AFL-CIO.

Local 831 Strikers Picket Quaker Oats  Strikers from LL 831 staged an informational picket at the annual stockholders' meeting in Chicago.

The Rest of the Story President Bush recently issued an executive order for companies doing business with the government about employees' rights and union membership. Only, he forgot some other very important employee rights. Read the Rest of the Story.

The IAM's Safety Department says we should be as careful at home as we are at work with dangerous chemicals and pesticides.

The AFL-CIO presents an interactive photo essay on the history of the labor movement. (A Flash Plug-in is required.)

International President 
R. Thomas Buffenbarger 

General Secretary-Treasurer 
Donald E. Wharton 

GVP Western Territory 
Lee Pearson 

GVP Canada 
Dave Ritchie 

GVP Midwest Territory 
Alex M. Bay 

GVP IAM Headquarters 
Robert V. Thayer

GVP Southern Territory 
George Hooper 

GVP Eastern Territory 
Warren L. Mart 

GVP Transportation
Robert Roach, Jr.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Buffenbarger: ‘We Will Make Our Voices Heard’ 
Delegates to the IAM Legislative Conference gave IP Tom Buffenbarger a standing ovation as he challenged them “to make the world move in our direction” in his rousing keynote address. He reminded his audience “our members and their families are the Union, and we will make our voices heard!”

Buffenbarger added: “Unions exist to raise expectations” of its members and “those expectations are met through political action.”

Politicians and the decisions they make touch every facet of our lives, he stressed. Issues ranging from a safe and healthy workplace to a sound Social Security system are rooted in political soil. “The very right of working men and women to form a union and bargain for better wages, hours and working conditions can be re-written and totally changed by politicians,” Buffenbarger warned.

He pointed to the need to revise outdated labor law, including the Railway Labor Act, and reminded delegates that it was politicians and their decisions that sparked the de-regulation frenzy. “Deregulation has been an unmitigated disaster in every instance, whether its transportation, banking, savings and loan or energy policies. It has been a complete disaster.”

More than 300 participants cheered as GVP Bob Thayer urged them to focus their attention on Election 2002. “It’s ours to win,” he said. “Our theme here is ‘defend Democracy—mobilize.’ Our members want us to stay mobilized,” he said. “Fair trade, Social Security, worker rights and other progressive policies are under the gun. We cannot walk away from this fight.”

Delegates heard from a list of distinguished speakers, then fanned out over Capitol Hill for meetings with their congressional delegations. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-SD; and House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-MO, were among the scheduled speakers.

Contest Deadline Nears
June 30, 2001, is the final date for entries into the IAM’s annual Newsletter & Website Contest, and the brand-new IAM Photography Contest. Editors and web stewards should check with their local lodge or district for information regarding the Newsletter & Website contest. Rules and entry forms for the photo contest, which is open to all IAM members, are available for download from the IAM website http://www.iamaw.org/publications/PhotoContest/photocontest.htm 
or by calling the IAM Communications Department at 301-967-4520.

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