KUCINICH VISITS LOCAL 506

On Saturday, April 24, 2004, Erie area UE Members attended a special breakfast session with Democratic Candidate for President Dennis Kucinch. The event was sponsored by the 506/618 Legislative Action Committee who also arranged a public Town Hall meeting with the candidate later that morning.

Prior to Congressman Kucinich’s address, 3rd Congressional District Candidate Steve Porter and UE General President John Hovis addressed the audience. John explained that the "economic Recovery," that began in 2001, has not been a recovery for workers. John sited the loss of 2.1 million manufacturing jobs since 2001 and the fact that 14.7 million Americans remain unemployed or underemployed. John thanked Kucinich, "for staying in the race to keep our issues on the agenda."

The crowd warmly greeted candidate Kucinich. He opened by saying that he was grateful to the UE for what we represent in the labor community and we continue to be a beacon without compromising our principals.

Kucinich then spoke about labor rights. "Without the right to organize, workers can’t be free." Speaking about NAFT and WTO, he said, "More and more workers are coming under attack." He said that many legislators voted for free trade bills, thinking they could fix them along the way, "Well after 10 years, they’re not fixed." Kucinich said that NAFTA and WTO created, "a race to the bottom. It’s all about cheap labor and getting around workers’ rights," he explained. Kucinch advocates removing the United States from the free trade schemes until they can be negotiated with workers at the table to lock in corporation’s ability to move unless there’s an agreement on wages, benefits and other worker rights.

After his address, Kucinich took questions from the floor. Bldg. 2 Steward Sue Smock asked the candidate what he thought could be done on the shop floor (to stem job loss overseas). He answered, "What has to be done - has to be done on the floor of Congress. He continued, "There’s a lot of talk about security - What about economic security for workers? Labor should be demanding Congress do something about it." Dave Allen, Bldg. 12, thanked the Congressman for talking about our issues.

During the Town Hall Meeting, Kucinich elaborated on his position favoring a Single Payer National Health Plan. He pointed out, "Insurance companies make their money by not providing health coverage." Sue Falk, Local 697 (Fairview) and Tom Migdol gave testimony about their health insurance dilemmas. Tom worked for APW (Erivite) before they closed down. He was paying over $787.00 per month under COBRA at first until he became eligible for a subsidy under the Government HRCT Program, which reduced his payments to $297.00 per month. Once the subsidy ended, he went back to full COBRA, which had gone up to $1,400.00 per month. A bill higher than his car payment, rent and utilities combined all while Tom is going to school to retrain for other work.

After listening to the testimony, Kucinich said that the discussions put in contexts what is wrong with our system. He said he was forging ahead to try and make the Single Payer Health Plan and Worker Rights issues part of the Democratic Platform. In closing, in reference to our progressive work as a Union, Kucinich said, "Thank God for the UE."
see the photos

Agenda: The officers will give a progress report on some important local issues being negotiated with the Company. The Legislative Action Committee will report on the recent Town Hall meeting they sponsored with Democratic Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich. The LAC will also raffle off an embossed UE jacket.

On Saturday April 24^th, Congressman Dennis Kucinich visited Erie and held two meetings at the UE 506 Hall. Although the Congressman has no chance of winning the nomination he will stay in the race, speaking to the issues that affect working people. Chief among his concerns is NAFTA, FTAA, and the rest of the free trade scams.

Back in 1992, another Candidate, Ross Perot talked about "the giant sucking sound" created by jobs leaving America if NAFTA became law. Remember how the rest of the politicians told us that globalization would be great for the American worker? Those workers who unfortunately lost their jobs to Mexico were supposed to find employment in the high-tech field, and maybe they did, but guess what? IBM, Dell, Microsoft and the rest of the high-tech industry are moving these very jobs to China, India, and Pakistan and paying a quarter of what American workers were paid.

Ten years after NAFTA was enacted, the American people are finding out that this dog don’t hunt. Millions of jobs have been lost to Mexico, with millions more slated for China and other developing nations. Remember, the politicians said NAFTA would raise the standard of living in Mexico, and in turn Mexico would be able to buy more products from the U.S. That has not, nor will it happen. Do you remember the comment attributed to Jack Welch about putting factories on a barge and moving them to countries with the lowest labor costs? 400,000 jobs that went to Mexico have now moved to China. Why? The wages in Mexico have reached $2.00 an hour, in China they are .80 cents an hour.

No, Dennis Kucinich will not be elected President of the United States, nor will he be the Democratic Party nominee, he has no illusion of that. What Kucinich does have is a vision, one that includes the Democratic Party, once again representing the working people of this country.

UE engages in Independent Political Action as part of the union's aggressive struggle to win better conditions for our members and all workers. In fact, a history of political activism by UE's rank-and-file members has earned our union an enduring reputation as a respected, progressive voice in the American labor movement. Here are answers to some of the most often asked questions about UE political action:

Political Action is the organized effort of working people to make our voices heard by our elected public officials in order to win government policies and programs which benefit working-class Americans.

Many of the same aggressive fightback methods we use to represent our members with the boss are used in our political action work. Rallies, marches, and petition campaigns are good examples. Other tactics include meetings with officeholders, writing letters to Congress, holding news conferences, registering voters, and campaigning on behalf of UE-backed candidates at election time.

"Independent" means independent of the two major political parties (Republicans and Democrats). UE maintains that both parties are too closely tied to the wealthy and big corporations to be dependable advocates for working people. UE political action is issue-oriented. We "independently" formulate our own political goals — not taking them from any political party or other group — then fight for them through political action.

"There is a difference between political action and playing politics. When we fought the politicians and we won what legislation we did, UE didn't play politics; we engaged in political action. We didn't rub bellies with the politicians. There was plenty of air between us. You could see light. Today, try to find some air and light between the bellies of labor leaders and the bellies of politicians. No go. you won't find it. They are playing politics.— UE Leader James Matles at the 1975 UE National Convention.

Yes. Because UE emphasizes rank-and-file involvement and grass-roots-style activism to a much greater extent than many other unions. UE, for example, doesn't have a national PAC (Political Action Committee) to contribute money to candidates, an approach that for many unions has become a substitute for mobilizing the membership. We organize people — not their wallets!

Why Do We Get Involved in Political Action?

The victories we win at the bargaining table can be easily either taken away or reinforced by the action or inaction of our government (local, state and national). Consider how labor laws, tax laws or our nation's health care and social security systems affect our lives as workers. Even as we are engaging our employers in our workplaces, these same employers are attacking us on a second front, using their financial resources to buy thousands of lobbyists and make millions in political contributions. Their goals are laws and policies which boost their profits, usually at our expense. We have to fight on this second front, too, but we'll never match the corporations dollar-for-dollar in politics. Our best hope is mobilizing the people — that's something we have a lot more of and the real source of our strength.

No, UE political action stresses unity. Because our real strength is in numbers, not dollars, working together with other groups to organize behind common goals is critically important. UE seeks to build coalitions with other unions and many other types of organizations. In fact, UE considers the joint work done to show solidarity with strikes or other community struggles to be an important part of political action.

No! We view ourselves as part of a larger movement for jobs, peace and justice in our society. Our goals and political issue positions are not narrowly drawn in the interests of labor unions only, but aim instead to improve the lives of all working-class people.

The members do! UE policy and issue positions are debated and voted on by rank-and-file delegates at annual UE national conventions. All locals and districts are encouraged to submit policy resolutions at the convention. If no local or district submits a resolution on an important issue, the General Executive Board of the union may ask the delegates for permission to submit a resolution to the convention on the subject.

The members do! In fact, most endorsements are made at the local union level using the political program adopted at UE national conventions as a yardstick. UE locals endorse candidates who have shown by their records, not by their rhetoric, that they will represent the interests of working people. UE also promotes the recruitment of candidates from the ranks of labor to serve in public office.

UE maintains an office in Washington, D.C. to serve as the "eyes and ears of the members" in the nation’s capitol. To contact the Washington office, call 703-684-3123. Fax: 703-519-8982. Write to: United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, 1800 Diagonal Road, Suite 600, Alexandria, VA 22314.

Once again Local 506 Members came out "big time" to support three important fundraising activities.

The 16th Annual Charities for Children Tournament, held on March 8th, was another success raising $14,788.00 for local non-profit organizations providing services to Erie area children. Over the history of the event, $91,136.00 has been raised. Tournament organizers Rick Makowski (Bldg.) and his wife Nancy would like to thank the Local 506 Members who year after year support this event.

The 13th Annual Bowling Roundup took place on March 14th at Eastway Lanes. Organized by Local 506 Retiree Ray Kibbe, the event raised $2,429.00 for the Second Harvest Food Bank. O$19,000.00 has been raised over the history of the tournament. Carl Daugherty (Bldg. 7) took home the High Game and High Series honors while Bill Keys (Bldg. 5) was the 1st Place Tournament winner.

In other Sports Shorts News, the VA5K will be held on June 6, 2004. Runners and Walkers are wanted for this event benefiting the residents of the VA Hospital. If your not participating in the race, the committee is in need of volunteers still. Please contact Karen Rubay at ext. 5304 or Matt McCracken at ext. 6839 if you can spare a couple of hours on the 6th. Also, the Sports Comm. is considering July 18 for this year's Golf Tourney. And finally, we are contemplating a canoe trip on the Allegheny River for sometime in August; interested parties can contact Matt during second shift hours at ext. 6839.

The grievance activity since last month was unusually low. Only two cases were filed to Step 2. Both grievances concerned cases of harassment, one from 18-Engine lab and the other from Building 10.

We attribute that low grievance activity to the fact we were busy and the company normally behaves better in good times. It should also be credited to a working Stewards system. As Stewards, staying on top of issues, in good or bad times, is necessary to keep things from getting out of hand.

During the last few membership meetings, there was discussion about the work the company has farmed out because of capacity. As you know this work must come back when and if things begin to slow down, that’s contractual. The Union is constantly on the company to make sure they are doing everything they can to limit this type of farmout. We also realize that hiring close to 400 employees during the good times means we must also have enough work to keep us all busy when things start to slow down; which they inevitably do.

The membership along with the Union leadership have got to keep the pressure on the company to identify work we purchase rather than doing it in-house, and through the Job Preservation process develop ways to bring this type of work in house. The Company purchases somewhere around 80% of the parts used to manufacture the locomotives we build. This represents a significant opportunity for job creation.

Currently the Union is looking at several of these items. The new wind generation business in Building 12 utilizes a wire harness that we feel could be done in-house instead of being purchased. We are in the early stages of preparing a proposal to the company on that project. We are also looking into some weldments currently manufactured in Mexico for 18 Control that require our welders from Building 7 to repair on a constant basis. These types of projects will help in dealing with a downturn in the locomotive cycle. Look around you in your area, if you see something we currently buy and think we could make it here see your Steward or Chief Steward and we will have the Job Preservation Committee look into it.

Since it is early in the summer season it would be wise to think about your decision when your boss offers you a temporary lack of work. During the last busy cycle we had some problems with the amount of overtime being worked compared to the amount of lack of works at the same time. The Company had a habit of offering lots of overtime, especially during the weekends, only to have Mondays roll around and lay off those who had worked the weekend. We said at that time this was bad business and ultimately hurts the workers. Even though its nice to take advantage of the rare good weather it comes back to bite you in the butt. There were more than a few members who were caught in this cycle and found out later when things slowed down and layoffs were happening that they, because of lack of earnings, did not qualify for maximum unemployment benefits. We must demand that the Company do everything they can to level load the shop and keep a good supply of parts on hand so we don’t see feast or famine type production. The company is predicting record earnings and more than likely record profits, as workers we should demand that we don’t get the short end of the stick.

In a letter to UE-GE Conference Board Secretary Steve Tormey, GE Corporate Relations announced they would make enhance the current GE Military Leave Policy which provides up to one-year’s pay plus benefits continuation for employees in the U.S. Military Reserves or National Guard who are called-up for active military duty to support U.S. Military operations.

The new Policy is described in the following paragraph: Reservists or Guards who are called-up for active military service are eligible for a one-month pay allowance, plus a military pay differential for up to an additional 35 months.

In a letter to UE-GE Conference Board Secretary Steve Tormey, GE Corporate Relations announced they would make enhance the current GE Military Leave Policy which provides up to one-year’s pay plus benefits continuation for employees in the U.S. Military Reserves or National Guard who are called-up for active military duty to support U.S. Military operations.

The new Policy is described in the following paragraph: Reservists or Guards who are called-up for active military service are eligible for a one-month pay allowance, plus a military pay differential for up to an additional 35 months.

For members enrolled in Health Care Preferred (HCP), the Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield SelectBlue insurance option, the nuisance and sometime extra cost of getting a Primary Care Physician (PCP) to refer you to a network specialist will be a thing of the past beginning July 1, 2004.

This is great news we’re going to warn you "but right off the bat," when July 1st rolls around, and you can set up your own appointment with a specialist, you had better know if that specialist is in the "*network". Otherwise, you could find yourself stuck paying the higher "out-of-network" deductibles.

To find out if a specialist is in the network you can log on to SelectBlue’s website at www.highmarkbcbs.com. We’re still discussing the best way of making the Physicians Directory available to HCP members without Internet access.

"You’ll still need your Primary Care Physician (PCP) to provide certain routine care services," according to a Highmark letter. Those services include adult routine physicals, pediatric routine physicals and pediatric immunizations. "And in many cases," the letter adds, "it will still make sense for your PCP to coordinate your care with a specialist. But in these cases you will not be required to obtain a referral."

GE COMPREHENSIVE MEDICAL PLAN DEADLINE

One final note on health insurance, if you are enrolled in the original GE COMPREHENSIVE MEDICAL PLAN (CMB), don’t forget to submit your 2003 medical claims by June 30, 2004 or risk losing reimbursement.

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