Mar-Apr 2006

Dan Green, financial secretary, UAW Local 3303, Butler, Pa.

“We need more education and outreach. Our local rented the theater in our town so we could show a movie about Wal-Mart, “The High Price of Low Cost.”

We played it all day on a Wednesday and got a couple hundred people. We wanted to buy a small ad in the local paper, which usually bashes unions. They gave us a big ad for the same price. Wal-Mart doesn’t advertise in their paper. We got a lot of support, actually, from local business owners.”

Gordon Meadors, vice president, Louisiana State CAP Council, Local 1921, New Orleans

“We work in different industries; the thread that binds us together is the union. We’re all working people, we all get up and punch a clock every day, we all have the same basic needs: wages, benefits, health care and pensions. … In my region, I know for a fact a lot of people that voted for Bush last time are going to reconsider their position because of the response to Katrina. We have a tremendous opportunity, if we can field strong candidates who support working people.”

Awilda Osorio

Sally Sowards, UAW Local 110, UAW legislative lobbyist, Missouri

“I think it’s great that our membership has sent their delegates to lobby on Capitol Hill and bring back the message and teach them what we’ve learned, who we’ve lobbied and the issues we’re working on.

“It’s a wonderful feeling when you get all of the UAW together, not just your local or your region. When we all come together, I find strength and unity in it. It gets you fired up. People are ready for change.”

UAW legislative priorities for 2006

1 Marshall Plan for U.S. automotive industry. Federal assistance to help auto companies retool and expand existing U.S. facilities to produce flexible-fuel and advanced-technology vehicles and their key components.

2 Reform bankruptcy laws. Legislation to stop employers from using the bankruptcy process to slash wages, health care, pension and other benefits for active and retired workers, while executives get outrageous bonuses and other compensation.

3 Thailand Free Trade deal. Any deal with Thailand that eliminates the current 25 percent tariff on pickup trucks will flood the U.S. market with cheap imported pickups, putting a dagger in the heart of financially troubled U.S. auto companies.

4 Tax fairness. The Bush administration and GOP congressional leaders continue to push additional tax cuts for the rich, while advocating that workers' health care benefits be taxed. This would impose a huge tax increase on working families and undermine comprehensive, negotiated health care coverage.

5 Extension of the Voting Rights Act. The Voting Rights Act was enacted in 1965 to eliminate abusive practices which denied African Americans the right to vote. It has been extended several times since and has been broadened to address problems that affect Hispanics and other minorities. The law is set to expire in 2007, and the UAW and our allies in the civil rights community support a bipartisan effort to extend this critically important law.

6 Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). At press time, 42 senators and 210 representatives now support this vital reform legislation (S. 842; H.R. 1696). EFCA would restore balance to labor management relations and make the right to organize a reality, by requiring employers to recognize unions based on card-check procedures. It also provides for mediation and arbitration in first contract situations, and increase penalties on employers who violate workers' rights to organize.

Delegate Pryor Walker of Local 595
listens to a conference speaker.