September - October 2003

As the real record of the Bush administration was peeled away, layer by layer, it was quite clear that that sentiment was richly deserved. I hate to keep harping on it, but I must until this message sinks in with every member of this union. Why? Because at the Washington conference, IBEW International President Hill reported that a national poll of IBEW members showed that 39% of those polled felt that George Bush was doing a good job as President. It is very difficult to believe that any poll of people who work for a living would show this level of content, let alone union electricians. Let me tick off a quick half dozen facts that the 39% were either not aware of or, heaven forbid, did not care about.

2. The loss of 3 million jobs in the private sector in a mere three years in office.

3. The erosion of private pensions to the point that deficits are estimated at $300 billion. The potentially devastating instability at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which guarantees private pensions, is as scary as it gets.

4. The combined deficits of State budgets for 2004 projected at between $60 and $85 Billion. The result: cuts in Medicaid, child care, education and training programs, to name a few.

5. Declaring the recession “ended” and watching another one million private sector jobs disappear, while 900,000 workers remain jobless for 27 weeks.

6. Unemployment rising to 6.4% in June — the greatest increase in nine years and a third consecutive year of jobs lost in the manufacturing sector.

It’s quite apparent that the Bush government’s total focus is on big business and the bottom line that drives it. If the record above doesn’t clearly indicate the administration’s total disregard for working men and women, nothing does.
And, adding insult to injury, the Bush team continues to imply that not supporting the President is unpatriotic, mistaking a dubious foreign policy for a disastrous domestic agenda.

There’s still more than a year left in Bush’s term. We can’t really afford a repeat performance. It’s time to start seriously hammering away and send him back to the ranch.

But as the leaves turn colors and the winds blow cooler, it's time again -- not for football, but for my favorite sport, politics.

While the outside temperature gets cooler, fall is the season when campaigns heat up. All of us have, no doubt, heard about the wide-open race among nine Democrats seeking to replace George Bush as President.

There's no question that we need a new President -- one who wasn't raised with a silver spoon in his mouth -- a silver spoon purchased with a fortune earned on the backs of non-union construction workers in the Texas oil fields. We need a President who has some feeling for the average American worker and for those who eke out an existence on fixed incomes. If you have any doubt about the Bush administration record on labor issues, please consider a few facts:

• Under Bush, Illinois is among the nation's leaders in a very dubious category -- job losses.
• Under Bush, tens of millions of American families lack even the most basic health care coverage.
• On the same day the Bush administration announced a paltry 2.1% cost of living increase for Social Security recipients, they also announced that those covered by Medicare would see a whopping 13% increase in their premiums.
• And the Bush administration's answer to dealing with the sluggish economy? Give the richest Americans a tax cut while expecting the rest of us to pay for it.

It's definitely time for a new, worker friendly President.

In the U.S. Senate, the Republicans hold the slimmest edge, two votes, if you count Independent Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords in the Democratic column. Not enough, perhaps, to shove a reactionary agenda down the throats of American labor, but too damn close. If something doesn't give and soon, working people in this country could be looking at total tyranny by the right wing of the Republican Party.

Here in Illinois, we can help regain a Democratic majority. With Republican Senator Peter Fitzgerald stepping down after one term, we can replace a right wing voice with someone who speaks our language, who knows our issues and who is one of us. Fortunately, we in Illinois have some leaders who know what it's like to work for a living and who aren't afraid to stand up for organized labor. When Dan Hynes and Lisa Madigan came to the union hall to campaign last year they promised to fight for the members of this Local. And they've lived up to that promise.

Recently, Comptroller Hynes placed a stop payment order on $2 million in State of Illinois checks to non-union contractors working on an ethanol plant in Lena, Illinois. Reversing the actions of the previously Republican controlled Department of Labor, Hynes rightly announced that since the plant was, in part, financed with state funds, it should have fallen under the prevailing wage act. When it counted, Dan Hynes was there for us.

Lisa Madigan, too, is pursuing the interests of this Local and of working men and women all over Illinois by pursuing enforcement actions and prosecution of those violating Illinois labor law. I'm proud to serve as President of a Local wise enough to have endorsed outstanding public servants such as Dan Hynes and Lisa Madigan. I hope we have the opportunity to pay them back for their support in future elections.

The New Soldier Field: 100% Union Made

Seems like everybody had an opinion on the $650 million rebuilt Soldier Field. Some architecture critics called it the “mistake by the lake” and compared it to a flying saucer sitting on a Greek temple. ESPN says it’s the best football facility in the country. The New York Times said it was a unique combination of traditional and modern that will, over time, become a new classic in its own right. But ask any of the hundreds of building trades union construction workers who made it happen and you won’t hear a word of complaint. Not when you’re logging a combined three and a half million manhours over eighteen months. More than 350 of those union workers were members of Local 134 working with Huen Electric and its various subcontractors on a fast track schedule. The sheer volume of electrical components needed when you’re dealing with 1.8 million square feet of floor space speaks for itself. Our members installed 5 million feet of building wire; 1.1 million feet of conduit; 20,000 circuit breakers, and 14,500 light fixtures throughout the stadium. The playing field is illuminated with over 625 1500-watt light standards generating almost a million watts of light. Great job and congratulations to all involved. Now, if we could only clone the 1985 Bears…

Not Forgetting the Working Men and Working Women

The news reports coming out of Washington D.C. make one believe the only issues our elected leaders are concerned with are the War in Iraq, tax cuts and the economy. Granted, these are very important issues but there are a number of other important issues the labor movement is fighting for because they impact the lives of millions of working men and working women.

Issue 1 – Medicare Prescription Drugs
The first issue affects millions of Americans — affordable prescription drugs. Too many of our citizens are being forced to make a choice between paying for their life-sustaining medicine or paying their monthly bills.

The U.S. Labor Movement strongly believes no American should ever have to worry about affording to pay for his or her medicine. There is something seriously flawed with our medical system when prescription drugs in Canada are selling at 25% to 75% lower than similar drugs in the United States. The labor movement has banded together to fight for a fair solution to the prescription drug crisis in America. There are two bills in front of Congress, S.1 and H.R. 1, dealing with prescription drug coverage. Labor finds both of these bills inadequate and discriminatory against retirees who have employer-sponsered coverage.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that up to 4,000,000 retirees will lose current benefits if either of these bills pass. What is most catastrophic in these two pieces of legislation is the provision to “privatize” Medicare by turning it into a defined contribution plan. Although there are parts of the bills that are beneficial and while it’s good to see Congress finally attempting to address the prescription drug crisis, IBEW is opposed to both these bills. We will not accept a law that privatizes Medicare, is not adequate, is not affordable and discriminates against seniors who currently have employer-sponsored coverage.

Both bills have passed their respective chambers and assigned members of the Senate and the House of Representatives are working on a Conference Committee version of the bills to work out the differences.

We have the greatest country in the world. We hold ourselves up as a beacon for other countries to emulate. How do we answer those countries when they ask, “With the USA’s wealth, why are men and women dying from heart attacks, diabetes and many other ailments because they cannot purchase life-sustaining drugs?”

The IBEW will only support a law that enables every American to have the same right and same access to quality prescription drug coverage.

Issue 2 – Asbestos
Asbestos may be the most lethal substance ever widely used in the workplace. Between 1940 and 1980, more than 27.5 million workers in this country were exposed to asbestos on the job with 19 million workers enduring high levels of exposure over long periods of time.

Each year 10,000 of these workers die from lung cancer and from other diseases caused by asbestos. Hundreds of thousands of other workers exposed to asbestos suffer from lung conditions that make breathing so difficult they can’t engage in normal daily activities or even work to provide an income for their families.

Unfortunately, many IBEW members were exposed to asbestos and have sadly become part of the mortality statistics or are suffering debilitating asbestos related ailments. There is a senate bill to reform the system that settles claims for asbestos victims. IBEW opposes this bill (Senate Bill 1125). We feel this bill only puts a band-aid on the problems incurred by the present system of compensating victims.

It is time we eliminate the unwieldy court of claims process asbestos victims must proceed through while paying big dollars for a lawyer to represent them. The compensation system should be made a “no-fault” system in which an applicant comes into a claims office with a doctor’s statement certifying the person has an asbestos related problem.

The bill also does not address the mechanism to properly fund the asbestos victim compensation fund. The fund should be front-loaded by money from the insurance companies and the government. Because of the inadequate funding, victims are not receiving a fair settlement in accordance with the severity of the asbestos victim’s ailments. Until such changes are made, we oppose this half-hearted effort to reform the asbestos victim’s compensation fund and its procedures.

Issue 3 – Overtime/Eligibility
On March 31, 2003, the Bush Administration proposed new rules to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that will make millions of American workers ineligible for overtime pay. Currently, FLSA requires employers to pay their employees a cash premium for overtime work. Certain employees in an executive, administrative, or professional position are exempt from overtime regulations.

George Bush wants to expand the number of positions that would be exempt from receiving overtime pay. The scary part of this proposal is that the inclusion of more American workers who will no longer be eligible for overtime is being done without a vote in Congress.

Fortunately, some members of Congress are stepping up to the plate and have introduced legislation known as the bipartisanship “Overtime Protection Act.” This bill stops the Department of Labor from exempting any classification of workers who currently qualify for overtime pay.

The Labor Movement deluged Congress and the Department of Labor with so many letters and e-mails in opposition to Bush’s new regulations that 72 loose-leaf binders were needed to hold all the messages. The Department of Labor has not yet ruled on the new overtime regulations. There are two bills, one in the House and one in the Senate, that are winding their way through various committees that will block any effort by Bush’s Labor Department to rewrite overtime regulations.

Labor and the IBEW will fight with all our might to stop this frontal assault on the paycheck of American workers. This is another example, in a string of many, of how the Bush Administration is anti-worker and pro “big business.”

Issue 4 – Overtime/Comp. Time
Anti-worker congressional representatives are now pushing various schemes to undermine an employee’s right to overtime pay as guaranteed by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

These congressmen are proposing a plan known as “Comp Time.” Under the provisions of this bill a worker, instead of receiving overtime pay, would be given unpaid time off better known as comp time. In the long run, this proposal will cut a worker’s pay while he or she puts in even longer hours on the job. Big business loves this bill because they won’t have to pay overtime and in the slack season they can give their workers comp time off instead of paying them when business is slow.

Here is how this proposal works: an employee who normally works a 40-hour week will be forced to work a 60-hour week at straight time. Instead of getting 20 hours of overtime pay, the worker at some future date will get 20 hours of unpaid comp time.

Labor strongly opposes this bill, which was introduced by Illinois Congresswoman Judy Biggert. We also oppose its companion bill in the U.S. Senate (S.317).

As of yet no floor vote has been taken because this anti-worker bill doesn’t have enough votes to pass it. Labor and the IBEW will be ever vigilant in making sure this bill never gets to a floor vote. We will use everything in our arsenal to lobby for this bill’s defeat.

The above four examples are just a few of the reasons that the anti-labor Bush Administration has to be defeated in 2004. Another four years of George Bush will result in a continued attack on the basic rights of American workers in order to protect the big business bottom line.

Boyle Auditorium Packed on Consecutive Saturdays; Annual PAC Party, Benefits Fair Draw More Than 1,600 Members and Families

On October 11th, Local 134’s annual Political Action Committee fundraiser drew more than 650 members and gave them an opportunity to meet numerous elected officials who are committed to the welfare and future of organized labor. Members, their guests and spouses enjoyed college football on video monitors throughout the hall, snacks, lunch and liquid refreshments throughout the afternoon. Among the officials present was Dan Hynes, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate. As President Ed Buettner pointed out “...Danny Hynes could make a huge difference in the balance of power on Capitol Hill.” By replacing Peter Fitzgerald, that’s almost an understatement. The following Saturday, Local 134 sponsored its first Benefits Fair and again drew almost 1,000 members. In addition to talking with representatives from Electrical Insurance Trustees and other pension fund personnel, State agencies, credit union and asset management planning experts, and health insurance planners, members received free flu shots and complimentary refreshments. “We hope to make this at least an annual event,” said Business Manager Mike Fitzgerald. “It’s a painless, fun way to get a lot of valuable information in a very informal setting.”

Two recent IBEW conferences, the annual Political and Legislative meeting held in early September in Washington D.C. and the annual 6th District Progress meeting held two weeks later in Minneapolis, addressed some very critical issues. Our editors elaborate on them on page two. But above and beyond discussions and the explanation of IBEW positions and support of various legislative actions these issues generated at the conferences, there was a very strong central message at both meetings. Very simply, it was that Bush must go.

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We've all had a few months off. Time to enjoy the summer weather, spend some time with our families and begin to make a dent in the never-ending list of household chores.

But as the leaves turn colors and the winds blow cooler, it's time again -- not for football, but for my favorite sport, politics.

While the outside temperature gets cooler, fall is the season when campaigns heat up. All of us have, no doubt, heard about the wide-open race among nine Democrats seeking to replace George Bush as President.

Read More