We can trust Barack Obama
With unemployment rising, prices soaring and our global financial system in a meltdown, it comes down to this: Whom do we trust to stand up for working people and working families?
In this year’s presidential race, Barack Obama is a candidate we can trust on the issues that really matter.
We can trust Obama to take a fresh approach to America’s failed trade policy. Like us, he does not believe our current one-sided trade agreements are working to our nation’s benefit. He’s pledged to renegotiate NAFTA to make it fair for American workers.
Like us, Obama opposes the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement that would lead to more job loss, a deal President Bush has been pushing and McCain supports.
We can trust Obama to make good on his promise to end tax breaks for companies that move jobs overseas and when he says he’ll give tax incentives to companies that invest in U.S. production and jobs. There’s already evidence of that in his early support of the federal loan program we sought for the automakers to build advanced technology vehicles and their key components here in the United States.
We can trust Obama because we’ve seen his record when it comes to workers’ rights and unions. Obama is a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a vital reform which will limit employer intimidation during union organizing drives.
He opposes the use of replacement workers during strikes, and he honored the striking writers’ picket lines McCain crossed, forgoing television appearances during his campaign. Obama will restore the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to its original purpose: protecting workers who want to form a union free from employer harassment, discrimination and other forms of interference.
We can trust Obama to work with Congress to meet a longstanding UAW goal: providing access to health care coverage for the 47 million uninsured in our nation.
We can trust Obama to oppose risking our Social Security on the stock market or raising the retirement age. He has voted against raising Medicare premiums.
We can trust Obama to create educational opportunities for our children. Obama’s plan includes a $4,000 tax credit to help families pay for college.
We can trust Obama to appoint qualified people to key positions who will work to put government back on the side of working families. His first decision – to name Joe Biden as his running mate – brought an experienced senator to the ticket who is a longtime friend of UAW members and a strong advocate for good-paying manufacturing jobs.
By contrast, while the Republican team of John McCain and Sarah Palin has tried to create an appeal to "Joe Six Pack," they have done very little to demonstrate that working families can trust them on the issues that really count.
McCain’s voting record – 90 percent with Bush – speaks for itself.
Can workers trust McCain – a man who voted for using permanent striker replacements, voted against collective bargaining rights for government employees and opposes the EFCA – to appoint the right people to the NLRB?
Can seniors trust their retirement years to a man who wants to gamble Social Security on the stock market? Or their Medicare to McCain, who voted to cut the program’s funding while raising premiums for seniors?
Can low-wage workers trust their children’s education to McCain, who voted against funding early education? Or their children’s health to McCain, who voted against expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program?
In a perfect world the politicians we elect would be perfectly aligned with us on every issue great and small. Unfortunately, that never has been, nor will it ever be, the case. In fact, we sometimes hear from UAW members who are concerned about the positions of candidates our union has endorsed in the past – particularly in the area of trade.
This year, there is simply no doubt that Barack Obama’s positions on trade are much closer to those of our union than the positions of McCain. And on so many key issues – the economy, the environment, health care and workers’ rights – he is a leader who will be a partner with members of our union in changing America for the better.
It’s exciting to be part of a campaign for change that can make a real difference – not just in Washington, but in neighborhoods and communities all across the country. It’s up to all of us to make it happen – with our voices, our volunteer hours, and most of all, with our votes Nov. 4.
Ron Gettelfinger
