Obama election marks historic turning point

Secretary-Treasurer's Report December 2008

I am writing this report right after the election returns have come in, and couldn’t be more proud that our nation has elected Barack Obama to be President.

Not only is Obama the best man for the job in these challenging times, but in addition, the ramifications of electing a black man to serve as President of the U.S. are incredibly significant. The polls show that white America voted for him, that the black vote was not the deciding factor, and that almost every sector of the voting population supported him.

This is a truly historic turning point. We can now say,"The United States of America," and mean it. No one is disenfranchised; no one can say that we let race, religion, bigotry, or prejudice get in the way of voting for the person that the majority thought would do the best job.

This is one of those events that people will remember where they were when it Obama’s victory was announced. In my lifetime I have had a number of those events-but most are bad memories. This event truly makes me proud that it happened in my lifetime!

As you know, the officers, officials, and political coordinators of Local 853 worked very hard on this election, and the Local allocated funds to help those working to get Obama elected in the swing states.

We now will have a President who truly believes in the rights of workers to organize into a union for their mutual protection. Obama understands that unions are the reason for the middle class, and that without a vibrant and flourishing middle class, our country cannot survive. He gets that good wages, decent health care plans, and pension plans are essential to the well being of everyone in our country. Good jobs enable people to spend money on cars, houses, and the goods and services that in turn drive our economy.

The fact that Obama has committed to sign the Employee Free Choice Act will change the face of labor relations in our country. Once workers realize that they can seek representation and have a reasonable shot at gaining the advantages that union representation brings them, we will begin to see a resurgence in our power and ability to negotiate for the wages, terms and conditions that we need as workers.

However, the fact that legislation gets passed in only the first step. Unions need to be ready to move forward, get people signed up, and get the first-time contracts in place.

At Local 853, this means that we will go after the competitors that undermine our employers’ ability to compete fairly. We need to make sure that the companies that compete against our employers do not have an advantage because they pay cheaper wages and benefits.

Additionally, the Obama administration has to move on a national health care system and work with us to preserve and protect our pensions. There are many problems that need to be solved, some of extraordinary magnitude. By having a unified front, we can overcome these and move forward.

Thank you, again

As you can see elsewhere in this newsletter, we again had a very successful membership appreciation meeting. Hundreds of our members enjoyed the morning, won prizes and felt good about being a member of Local 853.

We celebrate our union each year to make sure that our members realize that this is their union. And it’s a good way for members to realize the diversity of our Local, which makes us strong and vibrant. I especially want to thank everyone who came to the meeting and our staff for doing the hard work to make it a great success.

On another front, I need to tell you that we are continuing our fight against Graniterock and its tyrant owner. The courts have ripped away his ability to lie about the unreasonable changes in our contracts that he is demanding. We will continue to work to make sure that, as a non-union, substandard employer, he cannot unfairly compete against our legitimate employers.

Finally, I want to wish you and your families a happy holiday season. I also wish that we all see a more prosperous New Year, as we now have the hopes and dreams of a society that has finally overcome one of the great stigmas in our history.