USW Local 2003 blog

What McCain’s Health Care Plan means for a Union Member

Administrator — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:23:41 +0000

It’s easy, simple math!

One of the benefits guaranteed to most Union Members is Health Insurance. Paid mostly by the Company. Many Union members pay nothing for our Health Insurance. Here’s what you get with John McCain:

Your company likely pays $1,000.00 per month or more for your insurance, John McCain says that’s income for you, and you should pay income taxes on it. McCain will give you a $12,000.00 a year raise, that you will never see, AND YOU WILL PAY TAXES ON!

McCain will exempt the first 5,000. YOU do the math!

Your Company dosen’t pay quite $1,000.00 a month? Add up whatever the amount is per year, subtract McCain’s 5,000 chit, and YOU PAY TAXES ON THE REST JUST LIKE IT WAS INCOME!

Your Company pays MORE for your insurance? Get out your calculators. I used $1,000.00 as a nice low round number for my example. Get out your calculators and TAX EVERYTHING OVER 5,000 AND SMILE WHEN YOU THANK JOHN MCCAIN!

USW Endorses Barack Obama for President

Administrator — Sun, 18 May 2008 00:04:37 +0000

May 15, 2008

Join John Edwards in Growing Wave of Support

Our Union today issued the following statement of endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for President: “When the presidential primary contests began last year, our Union felt strongly that because of Senator John Edwards’s deep commitment to working people and because of our shared beliefs, he deserved our strong endorsement. His belief that unfair trade policies must be changed, his commitment to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) to restore workers’ rights to freely choose workplace representation, and his proposal for universal health care were widely shared by our members.

“Today, by virtue of a unanimous vote of our International Executive Board, we find ourselves once again in agreement with Senator Edwards, this time with his decision last evening to endorse Senator Barack Obama. And thus today, the United Steelworkers enthusiastically endorses Senator Barack Obama to be the next President of the United States.

“Senator Obama’s call for a significant change of direction amounts to far more than a compelling rallying cry. It is buttressed by his record of consistent support for workers, by his call for sweeping changes to our health care system, by his unflinching support for Employee Free Choice, and by his insistence that America’s trade policies must, first and foremost, serve the interests of America’s working families. “Senator Obama has shown his commitment to working families by proposing significant investments in the future of American manufacturing, in the revitalization of our nation’s infrastructure, and in 21^st century clean energy technologies that will lead to significant growth in domestic jobs. He is clearly the candidate who can best lead our nation out of the dark period of economic decline created by the Bush administration’s allegiance to Wall Street profiteering at the expense of worker prosperity.

“We share Senator Obama’s call for significant changes to these bankrupt policies, just as we earlier shared Senator Edwards’ And all of us, including we hope Senator Clinton for whom we have the utmost respect, must now do everything we can to ensure that Barack Obama is the next President of the United States. Now is the time for contention and division to cease, and for us to unite behind the changes for which Senator Obama and our members are calling. “America’s workers cannot afford another four years of rehashed Bush administration policies, another four years in which the National Labor Relations Board shills for corporate misconduct, or another four years of a Secretary of the Treasury who considers it his “job” to bail out Wall Street speculators at the expense of hard working families losing their homes. “Nor can those of us who are committed to changing the direction of the country afford any more racial profiling of an election, when either Democratic candidate would be far superior to Senator McCain’s lock-step commitment to four more years of the broken Bush economy and the broken Bush foreign policies. “We are proud and honored to join Senator Edwards in endorsing Senator Barack Obama to be the next President of the United States. We commit ourselves to working tirelessly for his election and for a new age of cooperation among Democrats, Independents and thoughtful Republicans alike in which working Americans are restored to a place of dignity in society and in the American economy.”

John McCain Revealed!

Administrator — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:54:10 +0000

Click here to read the briefing book.

Sen. John McCain calls himself a “straight talker.” But do you know what he really believes?

He’s a self-described “free trader” who supports bad trade deals like NAFTA and CAFTA. He wants to tax your health care benefits. He supports Social Security privatization. And he opposes the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation to protect our freedom to form unions and bargain.

Learn more about John McCain’s real record on working family issues by reading our new online feature, McCain Revealed: The Briefing Book.

Click here.

And please sign up to be a part of our rapid response efforts and receive updates and alerts about John McCain.

STEELWORKERS: Get out and VOTE on Super Tuesday February 5th

Administrator — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:03:44 +0000

February 1, 2008

To: All Steelworkers in the United States

Greetings: As you know, we endorsed Sen. John Edwards after carefully considering the positions of all of the candidates and their ability to forcefully advance our issues and after various consultations with the Executive Board and the activists in our union. We remain very happy with the decision we made and very proud of Sen. Edwards’ performance in placing our issues front and center in the national debate.

We understand that with Sen. Edwards’ withdrawal from the Presidential race, some of our members are asking what our position is with respect to Senators Clinton and Obama.

As with our initial decision, we intend to review the positions of Senators Clinton and Obama on all of the important issues, and most especially on trade, health care and the right of employees to organize — particularly as those issues have evolved since the campaign began. We also intend to discuss the matter at our Executive Board meeting this month and to afford our activists and leadership an opportunity to weigh in with their thoughts. When that process is completed, we will make our conclusions known.

In the meantime, for those of our members who are voting on February 5, we suggest that they make their best decision after weighing carefully the statements of both candidates and the issues that are most important to us as workers.

For all of our members receiving this e-mail, we invite you to e-mail your views on whom we should support and why to activistcorps@usw.org.

In solidarity,

Leo W. Gerard International President

USW is proud of John Edwards! What’s next?

Administrator — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 23:55:50 +0000

Steelworkers Praise Edwards Role in Forging Progressive Agenda for Change

For Immediate Release January 30, 2008 Pittsburgh – The United Steelworkers (USW) reacted to former Senator John Edwards’ announcement that he is withdrawing from the presidential race by expressing pride in the candidate’s role in forging a progressive agenda that would significantly change the direction the country has taken over the past eight years.

“We greet the Senator’s decision with some disappointment but with a great deal of pride in what he has accomplished in this campaign,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard.

“Senator Edwards proposed the first and most formidable plan to fix the nation’s broken health care system, and he has unquestionably been the most forceful advocate among the viable candidates for changes to the so-called “free trade” policies that are undermining the economic security of millions of Americans.

“We will miss hearing the voice of a candidate who has been unabashed in stating that the growth of the nation’s labor movement through passage of the Employee Free Choice Act is essential for revitalizing the nation’s beleaguered middle class, not to mention his morally uplifting commitment to address the needs of millions of citizens living in poverty.

“We take special pride in the decency with which he and his wonderful wife Elizabeth have advanced the cause of working Americans, and trust that they will continue to work for this important cause in the years to come,” Gerard added. “The focus he brought back to the poverty of those living in New Orleans – especially its impoverished 9th Ward – speaks to the commitment the Edwards family has to giving voice to those in need.”

The USW said it would engage in internal discussions with its leadership about the choices facing the union now that Senator Edwards has dropped out of the race. No decisions are anticipated, the union said, before its International Executive Board meeting in February.

Rapid Response Alert: Globalization

Administrator — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 06:31:12 +0000

For a printable version, click HERE

Note: Adobe Reader is needed to view the file. For a download, click HERE

Taking Back Our Economy - Part 12

Globalization: The Worker’s

Nightmare

For the next few weeks, we’ll be examinimg the repurcussions of free trade and globalization.

What is our definition of “globalization?”

Globalization is the economic system developed by world governments and international corporations that is founded on unrestricted free trade across borders. In most cases, the United States has led this charge by enacting free trade agreements that favor corporate protections while ignoring the needs of average citizens (NAFTA, CAFTA, etc.) Also, the undemocratic global trade governing body - The World Trade Organization (WTO) - that has no concern for human rights or worker protections, makes these rules that control trade.

Why is globalization so bad?

To start with, workers did not have a voice in the process despite how much we fought when many of the global deals were made. Without our input, we got a system built by corporate interests for corporate interests, and it’s hurting us all through lost jobs, lower wages, extreme poverty, environmental damage, etc. (more on this next week).

What is the “global race to the bottom?”

This is when corporations seek out the people who are most exploitable and the governments that will turn a blind eye to blatant violations of law. When one group of workers stands up for their rights, or a country enforces or raises its standards, those corporations move on.

When did all this happen?

Globalization has been in high gear since the 90s, though workers were feeling its effects before that time, especially in the steel and textile industries.

Senate Votes Thursday June 21 on Employee Free Choice Act

Administrator — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 02:21:20 +0000

On Thursday, June 21, the Senate will vote on the
Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

Please call your Senators NOW and ask them to vote
YES on the Employee Free Choice Act (S.1041)

Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard through the AFL-CIO’s EFCA Hotline at 1-800-774-8941, and follow the prompts.
You can also call the Capitol switchboard directly at 1-866-220-0044 and ask for your Senator.

EFCA will restore workers’ freedom to collectively bargain for a better life. Explain to your senators that by voting Yes on EFCA it will:

strengthen penalties for companies that coerce or intimidate employees;
establish mediation and binding arbitration when the employer and workers cannot agree on a first contract; and
enable employees to form unions when a majority express their decision to join the union by signing authorization cards.

Review of Michael Moore’s New Film “SiCKO” by Leo Gerard

Administrator — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 02:00:49 +0000

print this page

By USW International President Leo W. Gerard

Michael Moore, the activist author and filmmaker, has given every union member in the United States a great tool of advocacy for our health care agenda with his new movie, “SiCKO.” We should return that favor by attending the premiere of his movie June 29. Wear your USW gold and blue when you go.

With a compelling combination of humor and pathos, “SiCKO” documents how medical insurance companies act like cancer on this country’s health care system. This is what we want to eliminate with a national health care system.

Moore begins “SiCKO” by subjecting his viewers to excruciatingly painful insurance system failure scenes. They include an injured worker suturing up his own lacerated knee because he is one of the 47 million Americans without health insurance; a couple moving into a spare room in their daughter’s home after medical insurance co-payments for the husband’s three heart attacks and the wife’s cancer forced them into bankruptcy, the most common cause for personal bankruptcy today; and a young woman recounting the death of her 18-month-old baby because an ambulance took the critically ill girl to a hospital that refused to treat her because her insurance would not pay for services there.

Those disquieting scenes are thankfully interspersed with Moore’s often-comical antics in four countries with national health care: Canada, Britain, France and Cuba.

In Canada, he tools around in a golf cart with a conservative, who endorses the country’s national system of medicine and describes its creator, Tommy C. Douglas, as a Canadian hero, akin to George Washington or Abe Lincoln.

How could a conservative support socialized medicine, Moore asks the man. The conservative says it’s because not everyone can afford the medical services they need. The conservative, like Michael Moore and most of us, recognizes that health care is a human right, not some kind of privilege bestowed only on the rich or the lucky.

On his trip to Britain to investigate their national health care system, begun after World War II, Michael Moore searches a hospital for some department that will bill a patient. Finally, after numerous workers laugh at him, Moore discovers a cashier’s window. It turns out, however, money is dispensed from the window to patients, reimbursing them for public transit to the hospital.

Moore reports that his research shows that Canadian, British and French citizens live longer, healthier lives than Americans, and their infants are more likely to survive. The overhead costs for these health care systems are far less than America’s. In fact, the overhead for the one, already national system in American, Medicare, is 3 percent. It’s 30 percent for the insurance system. Apparently, Moore says, the government can do something right.

Moore ends up in Cuba after trying to take some American patients, including two 9-11 first responders who suffered lung injuries, to Guantanamo Bay to get some of that free health care American is dispensing to accused al Qaida war criminals imprisoned there.

After being refused entrance to the American portion of the island, Moore takes his patients to a Cuban hospital which provided free treatment to the foreigners, under the same procedures and circumstances that it gives care to Cuban citizens. The idea, again, was that medical treatment is a right of all humans, regardless of nationality, or religion or politics.

A Cuban firehouse conducted a ceremony to honor the first responders before they left because, the firemen said, they were all brothers and sisters. The Cubans said they wished they could have aided with the rescue on 9-11.

This kind of solidarity is essential for us to win a better health care system. The film advocates radical surgery on the American system to excise the insurance companies, which profit by denying coverage, treatments and pharmaceuticals, and by rescinding payments once made.

Michael Moore argues in “SiCKO” that this is not representative of American behavior. We show solidarity in crises. We rush to aid each other when there’s a tornado, a Katrina, a Virginia Tech. We bring food, build houses, give blood and clothes. We are generous. We are not the people of a stingy health care system. We have the right, the power and the opportunity to deliberately plan and build a health care system that would be fair and equitable and cover everyone as a human right. Let’s stand in solidarity for that.

We all know from our bargaining experiences how crucial it is to get health care off the table. That would eliminate much of the contentiousness in negotiations and make it much easier for American companies to compete in the global economy against nations that already provide national health care, including all of those in Western industrialized countries. We should act to radically reform the existing health care system that has resulted in 47 million uninsured Americans.

Make no mistake. Moore’s film advances our cause. It’s to our benefit to advance his film, which will play in only about 1,000 theaters its first weekend. The more people who clamor to get into those doors that first weekend, the more movie screens it will appear on the following week, and so on. The more popular the film, the more clear it will be to politicians that this issue must be addressed.

Again, I encourage you to go see the movie on opening night. Put on your USW cap or shirt when you go. Take your family and friends and neighbors. And take action outside the theatre, too. Stand in solidarity with your union brothers and sisters and Michael Moore to cure our SiCKO health care system.

Memorial Day

Administrator — Thu, 31 May 2007 04:46:56 +0000

Memorial Day is a day the nation honors our military, especially those who throughout history have given the ultimate sacrifice to our country. And rightly so! This great democracy has survived over 200 years.

But Memorial Day is also celebrated by working people to honor the struggles of workers through our history, who have fought to give workers dignity, respect, and the right to earn a wage that supports our families, and a way of life that truely makes the American Bill of Rights come true for the populus.

No more “fast track” trade for President Bush

Administrator — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 18:35:46 +0000

President Bush’s call for the extension of trade promotion authority, or “fast track,” reveals that he simply isn’t listening to the real and serious concerns of the American people regarding our nation’s economic future. Extending “fast track” authority would hamstring Congress’s ability to fix our broken trade policy at a time when working families are in dire need of a correction in course.

Misguided trade policies have exacerbated stagnant wages and growing job insecurity in America today. We have lost more than 3 million manufacturing jobs since 2001, many to offshore outsourcing, while an increasing number of white-collar service-sector jobs are also at risk. At the same time our trade deficit has ballooned to nearly $800 billion.

Rather than staggering blindly from one trade agreement to the next, our nation needs to regain our economic footing. To do this, we need a strategic pause to assess what have been the real and significant costs of our trade policy for working men and women in the U.S. and abroad. Absent an honest assessment, we will undoubtedly find ourselves on the same failed path.

International trade is important and should be pursued, but it is essential that we get the rules right. Any future trade negotiating authority must require that the negotiators actually achieve the key negotiating objectives, not just “give it their best shot.” Any agreement that gets the expedited consideration and an up-or-down vote included in fast track must include enforceable core international worker rights and enforceable environmental standards. It must also include rules on investment, government procurement, intellectual property rights, and services that strike the right balance between democratic accountability, development concerns and international obligations.

Last November, working people voted for a new direction. We need an entirely new process to ensure that Congress and the public have a greater say in our economic future. No longer should Congress be expected to take an up-or-down vote on a bad trade deal without proper consultation and participation at earlier stages of negotiation. Congress should be consulted throughout the process and should certify whether a proposed agreement fulfills the mandatory negotiating objectives. If not, Congress should send the President back to the bargaining table until the agreement is one that the American people can support - one that will ensure that the benefits of trade are more equally distributed rather than concentrated in too few hands.