September 3, 2007

IFL Convention 2007

Delegates await first Candidate at Presidential Forum

Candidates agree: America needs Unions!

CWA President Larry Cohen, IFL Executive Vice-President Jan Laue, and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka posed questions to the candidates on trade and the economy, health care, and organizing and bargaining rights for American workers.  The Forum was moderated by IFL President Mark Smith.

The Candidates—Soundbites from the Forum

Health Care

Senator
Chris Dodd

"No trading agreement will be finalized in a Dodd administration that doesn't include labor standards, health standards, environmental standards here.  I will not allow a trading agreement to go to the United States Senate for ratification that does not guarantee the protection of workers in any country that wants to do business with us."

"I'm talking about an attainable plan.  It's universal, it covers every single person.  Everyone pays in.  Everyone would benefit.  I believe if we stop the funding of the war in Iraq at $13 billion a month and stop the tax cuts the Bush administration wants to give to the top 1% of income earners, I can enforce or enact this plan without a new tax proposal."

"If I can by executive order impose an Employee Free Choice Act, then I'm going to do it as President of the United States.  I won't wait to fight a new Congress to get it done."

Former Senator John Edwards

“The first question that the President of the United States should ask himself, when any trade agreement is under consideration, is not what it does for big multinational corporations, but what does it do for working middle-class families, what does it do for people who are trying to support their families?”

“[M]y plan requires employers to either cover their employees or to pay into a fund, subsidizes health insurance premiums up to about $100,000 of income.  ... we outlaw preexisting conditions, mental health is treated the same as physical health, true mental health parity, chronic care, long-term care, preventive care all covered.  Dental care and vision care are covered.  ... in my plan... you can choose what health care you want.  You can choose from a private plan or you can choose from the government plan, which is Medicare plus.”  

"I believe that the Employee Free Choice Act and democracy in the workplace, free of threats and intimidation, ... is crucial to the long-term strength of America.  So what I would do,...is ... go to the Congress, I would go to members of Congress who were waffling, and if necessary I would go to their states to campaign and raise this issue.“

Senator
Joe Biden

"... the first thing I would do, I would change our tax policy and I would change our policy relative to this war.…  We owe China now, they’ve got a mortgage on our house.  We owe them almost $1 trillion. … We have a $1.2 trillion tax policy hemorrhaging to the wealthy in this country that don’t need it.  I would eliminate those tax cuts.  And I would eliminate and end this war.  And that would radically change the amount of money we are literally exporting."

"If I could pass one single law to get you universal health care it'd be public financing of elections.  The first year, I'd pass universal health care for all children and I'd pass a catastrophic health care for every American."

“I get [EFCA] through because I’m the only one ... that’s going to be able to win red states.  I will win 45% or more of the vote in 15 of those red states.  ...if we elect a Democratic President without being able to do that, …you won’t be able to implement an agenda that we all want.  I would  let them know what would happen to them if they were not able to help me on this vote."

Governor
Bill Richardson

“I would consider increasing tariffs on certain products.  What I would do is promote our exports better.  I would also ... reduce our debt.  We should get rid of corporate welfare....  And you know what else is in corporate welfare?  A tax incentive—if you’re a company and you ship a job overseas, you get a tax credit.  That’s gotta go.”

“I haven’t been a supporter of single payer ‘cause I don’t think the government can run health care.  But I am for a universal health care plan and I’ve outlined it specifically. I am for taking steps like expanding Medicare.  Medicare today goes for 65 and over.  I’d lower it to 55 and over to have more access.  I would also expand SCHIP programs.  I would give every veteran a Hero’s Health Card.  We should also focus on prevention.”

“I would fight to get the Employee Free Choice Act passed.  ... I believe there are many other votes that we can get if we can demonstrate that economic growth, that being part of a union and having card check and getting rid of the right-to-work states.  But I will lead.  I know how to get it done.  I know I could bring people together.”

Senator
Hillary Clinton

“...we’ve got to take a very hard look at all trade agreements, which is why I’ve got legislation to have evaluations of trade agreements.   … I’m for smart, pro-American trade.  We want to be able to have a competitive posture in the world, but we don’t want to be taken for granted and treated like suckers.

What we want is to get the cost down, the quality up, and cover everybody   Medicare is an important way of trying to cover some of the people who are otherwise going to be difficult to cover, like people between 55 and 65. We gotta start paying for prevention.  ... [P]rivate insurance [will] be under much tighter regulation.  They’re not going to be able to deny people health care…[Health care] is not only a moral imperative….  It’s also an economic imperative.”

“We’re going to try to do everything we can to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.  And as President I will speak out on it; I will work for it. ... [I]n the ’08 election we need to elect more Democrats .. to get our numbers up.   ... [I]f you want to get it done you’ve got be willing to make it a priority.  And I will do that.  ...  This is an economic issue.  And it is one that goes right to the heart of the American economy in terms of how competitive we’re going to be, and what kinds of standard of living and quality of life the American middle class is going to have.  So it’s a very big deal to me.”

Senator
Barack Obama

“…any trade agreement that we initiate should not only grow the economy, but it should also make sure that workers are protected and that they’ve got opportunity as a consequence of these agreements.  But what I guarantee you is that I will not sign off on a trade agreement that does not have strong labor provisions, does not have strong environmental provisions, does not have input from the AFL-CIO and labor.”

“If I were designing a system from scratch, then I might ... recommend that we have a single payer system, because it’s simple to administer, it’s not complicated, and it takes the profit out of medicine.  But ... we’ve got ... an employer-based system... that’s getting harder and harder to sustain.  So what I propose is this, that every American should have access to a type of plan that I enjoy as a member of Congress.”

“...it is my priority to get the Employee Free Choice Act not only passed through Congress, but signed and implemented, because we’ve got to make sure that ... employers understand that it is the policy of the United States of America, that every worker has the right to participate in the union movement.  ... the first thing that I do is I’m going to call in all the leaders—not just the Democrats, but also the Republicans—and I’m going to explain to them why this is an important strategy and an important approach.”

Complete transcripts of the candidate forum will soon be posted on our website:  www.iowaaflcio.org

For more detail on the candidates’ stands on labor issues, visit the AFL-CIO ‘s website comparing their positions: 
http://www.aflcio.org/issues/politics/candidates.cfm

“We must keep pushing to deepen the candidates’ support of our issues.” 

           Rich Trumka

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka gave delegates a report on the Democratic Presidential debate in Chicago: “All seven Democratic candidates are champions of working men and women and our unions. 

All pledged their support for national health care reform and vowed to protect our pensions and to create more and better jobs, to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, to raise the minimum wage again and turn free trade into fair trade. 

“That was a wonderful time.  But we know it’s up to us—each and every one of us— to keep pushing the Democratic candidates to deepen their support and then to hold them accountable.

Iowa union members’ key role in the decision - making process for unions: “Score the candidates!” 

 Larry Cohen

CWA President Larry Cohen asked delegates to follow the presidential candidates around and keep score as they speak to non-labor groups over the next few months.  “In Iowa you are creating a turning point in America, and what you do in these next 6 months is going to send a message.” 

We should watch:  “Do they bring up bargaining rights or not?  That’s the number one issue. …

“Take away our right to bargain, we aren’t here.  We aren’t here!  Give back the right to bargain and we change America as workers, we don’t need to wait for the next raise in the minimum wage.”

We need these candidates, he said, “to fight to bring back bargaining rights.  We don’t have 8 more years to wait.  Corporations will spend hundreds of millions of dollars in ’09 against EFCA.”  The fight we are in is “about our ability to bargain again as working class people in Iowa and across this country.”

Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

þ RESOLUTION NO. 1 Health Care I  endorses Medicare for all (HR 676), a single payer health care system.

þ RESOLUTION NO. 2   Health Care II  similar to Resolution No. 1; merged with Res. No. 1.

þ RESOLUTION NO. 3  Vote by Mail urges  statewide and local election reform to allow for permanent absentee voter status, and move toward permanent Vote-by-Mail elections in Iowa.

þ RESOLUTION NO. 4 Fire Sprinkler Licensing supports licensing structure for fire sprinkler installation and fire sprinkler maintenance workers and employers.

þ RESOLUTION NO. 5  Choice of Doctor supports legislation that allows Iowa workers who are injured on the job to choose their medical care providers.

þ RESOLUTION NO. 6  Fair Share supports  amending Chapter 731 and the pertinent parts of Chapter 20 to allow Iowa unions to negotiate fair share clauses and urges them to educate members and their families.

þ RESOLUTION NO. 7   Prevailing Wage supports a prevailing wage law for construction workers in Iowa and urges education of legislators and members on the beneficial impact of a prevailing wage on the economy, on quality and on worker safety.

þ RESOLUTION NO. 8  U.S. Senate Election  makes an early endorsement of Tom Harkin for Senate in 2008; and urges Iowa unions to make every effort to register, educate and get their members out to vote for the re-election
of Senator Tom Harkin to the U.S. Senate.

þ  RESOLUTION NO. 9  Caucus Participation  urges affiliated local unions and Iowa Central Labor Councils to encourage active worker participation in presidential candidates’ events and to educate working women and men on the importance of participating in their precinct caucuses.

þ RESOLUTION NO. 10  Supporting Unionized Companies by Urging City and State Governments to Switch Cellular Service to Responsible Providers  asks delegates to the IFL convention to switch cellular service to unionized AT&T Mobility, use the 18 percent union discount, and ask city and state government officials to switch governmental cell phone service to AT&T Mobility.

þ RESOLUTION NO. 11 Scope of Bargaining  continues support of legislation that expands the scope of bargaining for public sector employees.

All resolutions adopted at the 2007 IFL Convention are posted on our website:  www.iowaaflcio.org   A printed copy of all resolutions is available from: Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, 2000 Walker St., Suite A, Des Moines, Iowa 50317.  Call  515-262-9571/800-372-4817  or e-mail ifl@iowaaflcio.org

Iowa’s elected officials pledge support

Governor Chet Culver

Culver thanked the delegates for their support and promised that “the greatest days are ahead of us.”  Still to be done:  “no one should get a free ride; 42nd in wages isn’t enough; we need doctor’s choice; we need 1099 reform...and working together we can do those things and a lot more in the future if we stand together and lock arms.”

Senator Tom Harkin

Harkin keynoted Thursday’s political banquet, outlining the struggle Democrats face in the Senate in trying to move a pro-worker agenda past the Republican filibuster threat. 

“I’ve thought about retiring, but next year we’re going to see the best year for Democrats since 1974.  And there’s nothing I love more than a  good fight!”

Congressman Leonard Boswell: 

“We’re concerned about what’s going to happen in this world tomorrow for our kids and our grandkids, and it’s a very, very serious time.  We have to reach out; we have to talk as we did during the Cold War when we had missiles pointing at each other.  Let’s get this world back into the situation we need it to be in.  We have to work together, have fairness in workers’ rights—achieve a number of things.  We can do it if we work together.”

Congressman David Loebsack

Thanked Iowa’s unions for their support in his unexpected victory over long-term Republican Jim Leach and outlined the accomplishments of the only committee he had wanted to serve on:  Education and Labor.  EFCA started there and he is proud that it passed the full House.  “We know that the balance of power has shifted way too far towards the employer in this country.  EFCA is the first step to right that balance to make sure that workers have the right to organize.”   On health care: “I support a single payer health plan and won’t run away from that.  SCHIP funding is one step toward the goal of universal coverage—a step to cover as many people as possible on our way to that goal.”

Congressman Bruce Braley:  

“I was the first one to stand up and speak out in favor of the Employee Free Choice Act.    We all know what will happen when that bill goes to the White House with our current president.  He issues a veto threat every day I’m in Washington.  So what does that mean?  It means we’ve got our work cut out for us...the time to fight for change is not over.  The time has just begun.”

Bottom row, Left to right:  Executive Vice President Jan Laue, BCTGM; President Mark Smith, AFT; Secretary-Treasurer  Ken Sagar, IBEW. 

Top row, Left to right: Vice Presidents  Bruce Clark, APWU; Skip McGill, USW; Midge Slater, CWA; Deb Groene, IUPAT; Dale Jeter, GMP; Sandy Opstvedt, IBEW;  John Herrig, IAMAW; Greg Foshe, UA; Bob Connett, IAMAW; Steve Abbott,  Central Labor Councils; Ed Alcock, AFSCME. 

Not pictured: Vice President Danny Homan, AFSCME.

Delegates learned about:

...the need to stop tax loopholes for big business,
   and what a fair tax would look like...David Osterberg, Iowa Policy Project

   Jen Sherer & Dan Holub, Labor Center

...the most important recent decisions in labor law….Mac Smith, Attorney at Law

...the goals of small Iowa farmers and how they are compatible with those of unionized workers...Chris Peterson, Iowa Farmers Union 

...more about the AFL-CIO’s issue-based 2008 election plan focusing on a national universal health care system... Todd Anderson, AFL-CIO Midwest Regional Director

...a United Steelworkers/Sierra Club project to build labor power and engage communities in a joint fight to control corporate power ...John Campbell, Blue-Green Alliance

an AFL-CIO effort to organize “pre-union” workers and educate them politically and on the benefits of unionism …Karen Nussbaum, Working  America  

...creation of a broad all-union retirees’ political action group in Iowa ... George Kourpias, Association of Retired Americans

...a neighbor-to-neighbor initiative to hold our elected officials accountable...Don Kusler, Working Families Win.

STUDY HISTORY.  Artist Ricardo Levins Morales Poster available from
Northland Poster Collective, http://www.northlandposter.com/catalog/p756.html

Labor Day Message
from Mark Smith, President,
Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO 

Labor Day is the one day a year set aside to honor working women and men and the work they do.  In the words of a famous union song, “Without our brains and muscles not a single wheel could turn.”   

It is also a day to recognize challenges that workers face today, some of which are: 

þ Job insecurity:  Millions are unemployed and millions more face unemployment as their jobs are being destroyed in the name of “free” trade;

þ An assault on wages and earning potential: in spite of increased productivity, wages are stagnating on a global playing field where American workers compete with workers living on cents per day;

þ An unfair tax system: In the words of billionaire Warren Buffett, wealthy CEOs are paying “a lower part of our income in taxes than do our receptionists;”

þ An old age lived in poverty: employer-funded pensions are disappearing and the enemies of Social Security wait in the wings to end it;

þ A broken health care system: costs are spiraling out of control, millions are not covered, and millions more are afraid they will lose their coverage;

þ The loss of workers’ ability to join together to face powerful employers across the bargaining table, as corporations routinely deny workers the freedom to form unions and viciously break unions in even the smallest workplaces. 

These problems can be solved.  They can be addressed through public policy choices which truly honor both the history and the current contributions of American workers.  Regrettably, there is no political will on the part of the Bush Administration to do so. 

For example, take health care.  Forty-five to fifty million Americans have no health insurance.  Rapidly increasing costs are crippling families and employers, while drug and health insurance companies are raking in exorbitant profits.  What is needed is a single payer plan that provides universal coverage.  Delegates to the 2007 Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO convention in August endorsed HR 676, which would provide Medicare for all.  If Medicare works well for our parents and grandparents, why not for the rest of us?   

Union members are struggling to make America work the way it should and to stop the erosion of our living standards.  We need to make the 2008 election a referendum on health care, good jobs, fair trade and the right to join a union.

“We need to make the 2008 election a referendum on health care, good jobs, fair trade and the right to join a union.”

Mark Smith, President,
Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO