It’s time for a change
For too long and in too many ways, working people have been getting a raw deal.
For most of his term in office, President Bush had support of a rubber-stamp Republican Congress. Together, they demonstrated in real and painful ways what happens when corporate interests control the agenda: lost jobs, lost homes, depleted resources and devastated communities.
Is this still the land of opportunity? Is this the American Dream?
It’s time to take back this country on behalf of the working people who made it great in the first place. It’s time to restore the American Dream for ourselves and our children.
UAW members from across the country hit the ground running in February at the 2008 Community Action Program (CAP) Legislative Conference. Delegates went to Capitol Hill and told legislators from both political parties that our country must tackle key issues, like putting a halt to bad trade agreements that benefit big business but hurt workers in all countries.
UAW members also insist that our nation pay immediate attention to the 47 million Americans with no health insurance. Members of our union have always believed that health care should be a right, not a privilege for those who can afford it.
We also told members of Congress that it’s time to end threats by employers against workers who are trying to form a union. It’s time to restore the National Labor Relations Act to its original purpose: protecting workers’ right to organize and bargain collectively for better jobs.
The results of the primary elections show that the vast majority of Americans agree: Our country needs a fundamental change in direction. Although our union has not yet made an endorsement in the presidential race, we have two excellent candidates to choose from.
By contrast, John McCain, the likely Republican nominee, is bad news for America and American workers. He thinks, for example, that NAFTA was a terrific idea. Instead of fighting to preserve American jobs, he bluntly says: The jobs aren’t coming back. He also says we might be in Iraq for 100 years, supports privatization of Social Security and wants to make Bush’s unfair tax cuts for the rich permanent.
His record is just as bad when it comes to workers’ rights. He has voted against the Employee Free Choice Act, which would help restore the right to organize; raising the minimum wage, which would help lift working poor out of poverty; and extending unemployment benefits, which could help laid-off workers stay in their homes and help stabilize local economies in these hard times.
The choice for change in the coming election will be clear. Our efforts will be strong and focused, because UAW activists know that every phone call we make, every door we knock on and every person we drive to the polls can make a huge difference.
Our active and retired members – and millions of working families – are counting on us. We will not let them down.
Ron Gettelfinger
