GOP Trains Guns
on Social Security
Heady with
victory in their fight to weaken Medicare, Republican congressional
leaders indicate Social Security may be next on their hit list. A
recent Washington Post
article says aides of President Bush outlined plans to resurrect
his earlier scheme to privatize Social Security by diverting a
portion of payroll taxes into the stock market.
Shortly after
taking office, Bush appointed a commission to study the proposal.
“The commission recommended three approaches that would each cost at
least $2 trillion to make up for the money that would need to be
paid in benefits but would no longer be coming from younger
workers.”
The Social
Security Administration said it would hold town hall meetings on the
issue next year. Co-sponsors of the event will be the National
Association of Manufacturers and AARP; a self-styled senior advocacy
group that endorsed the Bush plans to gut Medicare.
Social Security
has been the nation’s most successful retirement system since its
inception in 1935, notes an official with the labor-endorsed
Alliance for Retired Americans”. We will fight any efforts by this
president or this Congress aimed at privatizing, weakening,
diminishing or otherwise dismantling the Social Security system,”
said Reuben Burks, secretary-treasurer of the Alliance.
“Each month,
nearly 46 million Americans get Social Security benefits, 32 million
retirees, their spouses and children, 7 million surviving widows,
widowers and children, 6.7 million people with disabilities and
their children,” Burks added.
Make Your Voice
Heard on Worker Rights
Every important
issue working families won during the past 100 years came through
the help of the unions they formed to win social justice for all. On
paper, America’s workers have the right to form unions, but the laws
protecting those rights are so broken that employers routinely block
workers from exercising their own free will to form and join unions.
New legislation
that was recently introduced with bipartisan support seeks to
restore worker freedoms to form unions by ensuring that when a
majority of workers decide to form a union, they can, making union
protections and benefits more widely available to more working
families.
The trade union
movement launches a campaign to win this legislation on December 10,
International Human Rights Day.
Some 45 million
U.S. workers would form a union today if they had the chance,
according to independent polling. But employers routinely harass,
coerce, intimidate -- and even fire-workers to keep them from
exercising their freedom to form a union. According to Cornell
University research, one-quarter of employers illegally fire at
least one worker during private sector union organizing campaigns.
You can make
your voice heard on this important issue. Visit http://capwiz.com/iamaw/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=4392926.
and urge your
lawmaker to co-sponsor or support this legislation. We can
make a difference
DeLay Torpedoes
GOP Luxury Liner
A firestorm of
blistering criticism forced Rep. Tom DeLay, R-TX, to drop plans to
entertain GOP honchos and free-spending corporate bigwigs aboard a
luxurious cruise liner anchored in the Hudson River during next
year’s Republican National Convention in New York City.
DeLay scuttled
the plan after weeks of bad publicity, including a very public spat
between DeLay and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg over who
would bear the expense of additional security for the cruise ship
and its wealthy patrons.
The hullabaloo
handed Democrats a potent political issue and they gleefully rushed
to the barricades with it. “This has always been a titanically bad
idea,” crowed Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY. “It is great news for NYC
if they sink this plan. The New
York Times published a scathing editorial, singling out
DeLay’s former chief of staff, who represents Norwegian Cruise Lines
in Washington, DC. The firm supplied the cruise ship for DeLay’s
proposed shindig.
Vertex Workers Say: ‘Union Yes’
Employees from
Vertex Aerospace LLC - US Customs program at Naval Air Station North
Island in San Diego, CA voted Union YES by an overwhelming 91%
margin. These Service Contract Act employees maintain a variety of
aircraft and ground equipment for U.S. Customs.
"This organizing
victory was the result of the hard work and determination of the
employee organizing committee," Senior Organizer Brian Miller said.
"They remained strong after an unsuccessful NLRB election in 2002
that we lost by one vote. The committee held the bargaining unit
together through the twelve month election bar and produced a
victory on election day."
The bargaining
unit is in high spirits following this victory. Todd Ward was
elected to serve on the IAM negotiating committee, and first
contract negotiations are set to commence in December 2003.
A Machinist’s Tale
A long-time
machinist and member of Operating Engineers Local 3 was recently
inspired to write a short story after seeing a newspaper ad for a
‘Master Machinist.’ The story is a work of fiction based on facts
that many of us are all too familiar with.
It is our
pleasure to
share the story with you and we would like to thank the author,
Terry D. Coffman, for providing this poignant and thought provoking
tale of one morning in the life of an American machinist. |