Thursday, June 23, 2005

Midwest and Southern Territory Staff Conference Concludes

The Midwest and Southern Territories are wrapping up their joint staff conference held this week in Orlando, FL. Participants at the conference focused on organizing to rebuild our membership and defending our members’ livelihoods against the most anti-worker federal government in a generation.

“All of us together must make organizing the central part of our job as representatives,” said International President Tom Buffenbarger. “We can’t protect and improve our members’ quality of life without a strong presence in every industry we represent. And to do that, we must organize.”

Participants also discussed ways to fight bad trade deals, Corporate America’s dumping of pensions and the growing trade imbalance with China.

“Families across the country depend on us, the Machinists' Union and the labor movement to set the standard for wage rates and working conditions for all workers," said Southern Territory GVP Bob Martinez.

“We are the only voice for working families and the fights we win against corporate greed help all working Americans.”

With all three branches of the federal government and many state governments controlled by anti-worker politicians, political action was another big focus for participants.

“The current administration and big business groups have made us their target,” said Midwest GVP Jim Brown. “All of us need to call Congress now to tell them to protect Social Security and stop the administration’s plans to privatize it."

"And we need Congress to protect our pensions from companies who want to run away from their responsibilities. We have earned that money through years of hard work and dedication.”

Rally to Support Federal Workers

On Tuesday, July 12, members of the Department of Defense unions will rally in Washington, D.C. to oppose the ongoing assault against America’s federal workforce. The rally will focus on the National Security Personnel System (NSPS).

Congress allowed the introduction of NSPS but in a different form than what is being imposed on the 36 unions in the United DoD Workers Coalition (UDWC). The rally in front of the United States Capitol Building will show Congress and the public that the attacks on workers’ rights, collective bargaining rights and workers’ salaries are what is harmful to the nation’s security.

Meet the federal workers who protect our national security on July 12 at noon on the west side of the U.S. Capitol facing the Washington Monument. For more information, contact Frank Carelli at 202-776-0102.

Health Care Accountability Act Introduced

Senators Edward Kennedy and John Corzine along with Congressman Anthony Weiner introduced the Health Care Accountability Act (S 1286 and HR 3042), which would require states to annually report the number of people who receive health coverage through taxpayer-funded health care instead of the large company-based employer plans.

“There’s plenty for the Executive Suite, but it’s time for a fair share for employees’ pay and benefits too,” explained Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy.

Wal-Mart is the largest abuser of taxpayer-subsidized health care costing taxpayers $61 million in Florida, $47 million in Tennessee, $32 million in California and $3 million in Massachusetts.

The bill will bring out the unfair practices of some companies and let the American people know how much their state is paying for the benefits of employed workers.

A significant proportion of the nation’s uninsured are workers, or their family members, in large firms with 500 or more employees. In 2001, the working uninsured represented 26 percent of the nation’s uninsured, totaling 9.6 million people.

Employer sponsored insurance coverage has dropped due to the increase in jobs that don’t offer coverage and the number of workers who decline coverage because it is too expensive. Companies pass along the higher costs to employees, an increase of almost 50 percent due to increases in co-pays, deductibles, and premiums.

Southern Territory's AA Les Schroeder Retires

Friends and family attending the IAM Midwest and Southern Territory Staff Conference said goodbye to Southern Territory Administrative Assistant Les Schroeder who is retiring July 1, 2005. More than 300 guests attended a dinner held in his honor.

“Les, the entire Southern Territory will miss you,” said Southern Territory GVP Bob Martinez “We wish you a long, healthy and happy retirement.”

Schroeder was also presented with an IAM-made shotgun for his years of service by his home Local Lodge 15. Schroeder joined Local Lodge 15 in 1964.

New Site to Tailor Pages to Members

When the new www.goiam.org debuts July 1, 2005, members will find that they are allowed a great deal of control over what they see on the screen.

”There will be no ‘cookie-cutter’ pages in this website, “ said Communications Director Rick Sloan. “Members want to connect with issues and information that directly affects them. We will now be able to provide them with that.”

My Turf will be an individually-tailored page which a member will sign into and which will be password-protected. Once logged on, a member will be able to access issues of interest to him or her and receive local lodge and territory news.

Members will also be able to create and view “get-togethers” in this portion of the site when this tool is activated in September.

IAM Constitution Available in Spanish

The newly printed version of the IAM Constitution in Spanish is available from the Purchasing Department at IAM Headquarters 301 967-4712. Purchasing also carries the new IAM Constitution in English. The French translation is available from the Canadian office 416-386-1789.

All versions of the IAM Constitution (English, French and Spanish) are available online to authorized users of Vlodge. For more information about Vlodge, contact the Information Systems Department at 301-967-3481.