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Workers Memorial Service Honors Fallen Members
In an emotional ceremony, family members gathered at the Winpisinger Center on Workers' Memorial Day to hear the bell toll 23 times, once for each new name added to the base of the Lighthouse Monument. The Monument honors IAM members who were killed on the job or died from an occupational illness.

"We look forward to the day when we can mark this occasion without adding a single new name to this memorial," said General Vice President Bob Thayer. "Until then, our actions must speak louder than our words."

In the United States alone, more than 6,000 people are killed at work each year. An additional 50,000 workers die annually from occupational diseases.

Christopher, Michael and Catherine Shea place flowers at the Winpisinger Center's Worker Memorial for their grandfather, John Shea, who perished from a brain tumor after exposure to hazardous chemicals at Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut.


IAM Mourns Union Leader Bill Hubbell
Earlier this year, the IAM and its members bid a sad farewell to Bill Hubbell, a life-long crusader for working families.

Hubbell played a key role in bringing about the affiliation of the International Woodworkers of America with the IAM in 1994."He spent his career, and his life, in the battle for social justice and economic dignity for working men and women," said IAM President Tom Buffenbarger.

"His dedication, personal sacrifice and tireless service shaped a brighter future for working men and women across North America."

Hubbell, 71, joined the Woodworkers in 1958 and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming president in 1986 and held that position until the two unions affiliated.
He was a charter member of the Forest Products Industry's National Labor-Management Committee that jointly lobbied for better timber harvest practices.



Machinists March on Maytag to Keep Jobs in USA
Hundreds of angry union members, legislators and citizens descended on Maytag's annual shareholders' meeting to denounce plans to close the company's profitable Galesburg, IL, refrigerator plant.

"Maytag hustled $10 million in taxpayer subsidies and grants after they threatened to leave Galesburg in 1994," said IAM President Tom Buffenbarger.

"This disgraceful about face by Maytag CEO Ralph Hake buys him a permanent place in the 'Corporate Hall of Shame!'"
Nearly 1,600 IAM workers will lose their jobs when Maytag moves refrigerator production from Galesburg to Mexico. Many wonder if the town will ever recover.

"The ripple effect on the local economy will be devastating," said Dave Bevard, president of Machinists Local 2063, representing Maytag's production workers in Galesburg. "More than $100 million worth of jobs will vaporize when Maytag moves production to its factories in Mexico, where employees earn the equivalent of 58 cents an hour."