Call to Action -- Where From Here?

Election of Our Lifetime--Where from Here?, Dec 7, 2008
Call to Action by Blair Bertaccini

On November 7 of this year, we the people of the United States took a great step forward to make an economic and social agenda for the workers of this country. How many of us have said to ourselves and others, “I never thought I’d see it in my lifetime”?

The “it” not just refers to the election of Barack Obama but to the movement that was created to elect him and host of pro-worker candidates at the national, state and local level.

To make this moment truly incredible we have still have a lot left to do.

The corporations and the rich have controlled our politics for decades to win many changes that have benefited a miserable minority of our population to the detriment of everyone in this room and the tens of millions like us around our great nation.

On November 7 we put a halt to this agenda. Now it is time to make the changes that our nation cries out for.

So what should be on our agenda now?

Our struggles over a long span of years show where we need to go. We have many heroes and heroines of the people’s struggles that have shown the way. Merrilee Milstein was certainly one of these. Her efforts and those of thousands of others who were not with us in the flesh on November 7 were certainly in our hearts and minds.

Merrilee was certainly a bold fighter and we must be bold now. We cannot listen to many of those in the media and positions of power who tell us that these times are so dire that we must moderate our agenda because the resources are not available to accomplish many goals that were spoken about during this recent political campaign.

Here are some that I am sure our on the minds of everyone in this room.

We must get the Employee Free Choice Act on President Obama’s desk as soon as possible. This act will give those of us in the union movement new tools to organize tens of millions of workers into unions. Every worker in America deserves to have one of these: a union contract. This is mine. It gives me respect on the job and decent standard of living. In fact I felt that maybe my local isn’t doing something right when some political pundits recently complained the United Automobile Workers inch thick contract. I measured mine and its only 3/8 of an inch. We shouldn’t be apologetic about inch thick contracts, that’s an inch of protection, an inch of rights on the job and good wages!

So the workers of America need EFCA. It is a vital part of any economic stimulus package.

We must be clear to our elected officials, now is not the time to cut spending, now is the time to spend lots of money on legislation that creates jobs in the sectors of our economy that need it; rebuilding our infrastructure, our mass transit systems, our streets and roads, sewers and water treatment plants; green industries that are almost necessary to save our planet and ourselves.

Universal health care is something else that cannot wait. We need health care system that brings affordable and comprehensive health care to every person living in this country regardless of income or immigration status. We do not have a health care system now, the word system means some type of coordinated program, we don’t have that. We can fight for this change on both the state and national level. We have to tell our representatives that this change that cannot wait to some undetermined point in the future. We must end this national disgrace as soon as possible.

The Iraq war must end as soon as possible. This war is a crime against the people of Iraq for all the death and destruction that has been inflicted on them and it is a crime against the American people for all the resources that have been wasted there and continue to be wasted no matter how well the situation has supposedly improved.

We must prepare ourselves for these struggles and we cannot let up until we win. Our enemies will not give up easily.

We need to keep ourselves informed about what is happening around our nation and the world how our fellow workers are engaging themselves to win the victories that we can achieve.

The People’s Weekly World is important and I would say an indispensable tool to do this. It is a paper that declares its allegiance to the people’s struggles that calls for the unity of the working class that says a people’s agenda can be achieved.

It is a paper that said that united working class could win this election long before others thought it possible.

Everyone here should have a subscription to this paper. You’re making a political statement when you get a subscription to the PWW. You’re saying “I’m ready to fight”.

I want to thank everyone for coming here this snowy afternoon and I look forward to seeing you all on the frontlines of our battles for a better world.

Springtime of Possibility

We were all inspired by the wonderful anniversary event Sunday, Dec 7 hosted by
the People's Weekly World in Connecticut where the Amistad Award was presented
to Juan Hernandez, Kathy Jackson and Al Marder. We celebrated the great election
victory, and carrying on the fighting spirit of Merrilee Milstein, we committed ourselves to continuing together in the hard work for the big, bold changes our nation cries out for. The audio will be posted next week.

Attached below is the report by Sam Webb to the meeting of the National Committee
of the CPUSA held on November 15, 2008 just after the election, "A Springtime of
Possibility." Also Joelle Fishman's report from the Political Action Commission, "Landslide Mandate for Change."

Comments welcome. Send to: ct-cpusa@pobox.com

A Springtime of Possibility:
http://www.cpusa.org/article/articleview/994/1/154/

Landslide Mandate for Change:
http://www.cpusa.org/article/articleview/991/1/154/

See you on the frontlines to realize the possibilities for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, massive federal funding for jobs to rebuild our infrastructure and meet our needs, health care for everyone, an end to raids and deportations and a path to citizenship, and to bring our troops home and establish a new peacetime economy and foreign policy.

Election Day Voting Rights - Tuesday, November 4

• Verify your polling place. Call your local Registrar of Voters or election officials.

• Bring identification, preferably a government issues photo ID with your name and registered address

• Ask for help from poll workers and check posted signs if you have a question or need assistance

• Make sure to cast a vote. If you are in line when the polls close, stay in line. You are entitled to vote.

• If you are offered a provisional ballot ask if you can cast a regular ballot by providing additional ID or by going to another polling place. If no alternative is available cast a provisional ballot.

• If you have a voting rights problem ask to speak with the chief election official or a voting rights volunteer at the polls or call the national Election Protection Hotline:

English language: 1-866-OUR-VOTE
Spanish language: 1-888-Ve-Y-VOTA
Asian languages: 1-800-966-5946 (Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese or Khmer)

Issued by: CT People’s Weekly World
ct-pww@pobox.com (203) 624-8664

See below re: Vote No on Constitutional Convention (posted 10/10/08)

Merrilee Milstein Day puts working families’ needs first

by Joelle Fishman

New Hampshire attracted a lot of excitement in 2004 as the only state in the country to flip from red to blue in the presidential elections. There was jubilation that night as Kerry defeated Bush by just over 9,000 votes, before the national results were counted.

What happened in New Hampshire? A big part was labor’s role.

“An anti-union right wing has been active in the New Hampshire State Legislature for years,” Merrilee Milstein, then AFL-CIO deputy northeast regional director, told the People’s Weekly World at the time (10/16/04).

She credited local unions and the help from neighboring states with “creating a new sense of the labor movement in New Hampshire. Thousands and thousands of people have been involved in a very personal way to fight George Bush and the right wing.”

As labor coordinator in New Hampshire, Merrilee didn’t go for the vote alone. She organized in a way to develop new leaders and lay the basis for a stronger, more united movement that could win better wages and working conditions and increase political power for working families.

When Merrilee died this June at age 61 it was devastating not only in Hartford, Conn., where she lived but in New Hampshire and elsewhere as well.

Like the song “Joe Hill is at your side,” the call went out from the New Hampshire AFL-CIO throughout the state and to Connecticut and Massachusetts for a special Merrilee Milstein Memorial Labor Walk on September 27 to honor “a great woman, great activist and great friend.”

SEIU had organized buses of volunteers from surrounding states, and also declared September 27 as “Merrilee Milstein Day.”

Honoring the memory of their union sister brought the New Hampshire AFL-CIO and SEIU together, even though they had been conducting separate election efforts.

Nearly 50 of Merrilee’s family and friends traveled to Nashua by van and car from Connecticut to knock on the doors of union members and talk about why Barack Obama’s election is so important for working families.

Mark MacKenzie, president of the New Hampshire AFL-CIO, gave a big thank you. “I think for our members the choice is really clear,” he said. “Barack Obama supports the Employee Free Choice Act, he has made a commitment to put forth trade agreements that make sense, he is for universal health care, and he will make sure our pensions and retirements are kept secure.”

It was enjoyable to knock on doors and find voters who were enthusiastic and inspired by Obama’s historic candidacy, like the teacher who said her whole family was spreading the word. There were several families of divided opinion and others who declined to say. The most challenging conversations were with voters who did not want to support Obama because they were caught up in the lies and rumors undermining his integrity and patriotism. Those who were ready to discuss appreciated the comparison of McCain’s anti-worker record with Obama’s near perfect score.

It was exciting to be part of the quarter million union volunteers across the country, the biggest election mobilization in labor’s history, which has influenced the political climate in working class swing states and districts, laying the basis for a much larger labor movement.

The example set by labor’s top leaders talking directly with white sisters and brothers about how Obama represents their best chance for a secure future will have a lasting impact.

The idea that it takes unity and struggle to win big gains was something that Merrilee carried everywhere. Insisting on sharing this lesson earned her deep respect.

Merrilee was determined to win on the side of the working class. Her enthusiasm, creativity and persistence were contagious.

On election night 2004, after scores of volunteers had finished their assignments, word came that voters were leaving the polls because of long lines. Campaign workers were immediately dispatched to the polls with bags of candies, chips and other snacks to give encouragement and keep the parents and kids, older voters and young first time voters from leaving. It worked.

This year the chance to uproot ultra-right corporate political dominance is much greater. Voters want to be part of history. They see that the policies of the Bush administration, which McCain-Palin would continue, are bankrupting the country and endangering the world.

This year New Hampshire will not be alone. Merrilee would have been building for a landslide.

Labor’s giant effort along with massive organizing by African American, Latino, women’s and youth groups has turned historically Republican states’ House and Senate seats into battlegrounds, including the Senate seat in New Hampshire.

A landslide victory for Obama and Congress will open the door for big new struggles to organize workers into unions and place the needs of working families front and center in this economic crisis.

See related story: Merrilee Milstein mourned
http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/13261/

From the People's Weekly World October 25, 2008

Key Facts about the Ballot Question
on a Constitutional Convention
from the CT Vote No Coalition:

Haga clic aquí para español

• The question on the ballot will read: “Shall there be a Constitutional Convention to amend or revise the Constitution of the State?” It doesn’t say anything about who goes to the convention or what will be proposed.

• State legislators appoint the delegates to the convention. Average citizens have no say in who goes. The politicians in Hartford will appoint lobbyists, special interests and party operatives – not regular citizens and taxpayers.

• Convention delegates can propose anything, without limits. Voters have no say in what is proposed at the convention. They will do what’s in their best interest,not the public interest.

• The group pushing for the convention is a political organization dedicated to banning marriage for gay people and outlawing abortion. They will use the convention to take away people’s rights.

• In other states, big businesses like health insurance companies and tobacco companies have used this process to get special tax breaks, overturn environmental laws and take away workers’ rights and benefits.

• The state constitution has been amended 30 times since 1970 – without holding a convention. We can make changes to the constitution without holding a taxpayer-funded convention.

• Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and other experts on the state constitution have come out against the convention.
  

McCain Links to Anti-Union Casino No Surprise to Workers

by Paul Neal

When scores of dealers and their supporters rallied at Connecticut’s Foxwoods Casino last May for their right to representation by United Auto Workers Region 9A, which they had voted for overwhelmingly, passersby were quick to honk in support.

A year earlier, Sen. John McCain enjoyed a gambling weekend at Foxwoods with lobbyists Scott Reed and Rick Davis, in seeming conflict of interest with his role as chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Davis is now McCain’s campaign manager.

Casino management ties to McCain, exposed last month in The New York Times, come as no surprise. McCain is an ardent foe of workers’ right to organize.

Foxwoods’ management is refusing to recognize the dealers’ union vote on the grounds that the casino, located on Mashantucket Pequot sovereign territory, should be exempt from National Labor Relations Board rulings.

Because the casino is a corporate entity at which nearly all workers and customers are not tribe members, a court ruled that the casino workers are covered by the NLRB.

Commenting on the ruling last year, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called that ruling a “historic victory” that “opens a new era for working men and women at tribal casinos in Connecticut and across the country.

“While we respect the principles of tribal sovereignty, this ruling guarantees that basic rights deserve respect, no matter who the employee,” Blumenthal said.

This week, casino management responded by filing an appeal of the NLRB order to negotiate a contract, and announced the layoff of 700 workers.

This billion dollar casino is the world’s largest, and Connecticut’s biggest private employer. The dealers’ union web site is in eight languages, indicating the diversity of the workforce.

Since the union election Foxwoods has been stalling for time, trying to create an atmosphere which causes dealers to quit or be fired. The management has also seen fit to award across-the-board raises to virtually every other occupation in the casino complex while dealers’ salaries have remained stagnant.

Dealers recruited from the original casino to work in the new MGM tower are required to serve a three-month probationary period which allows Foxwoods to fire them at will with no recourse for reinstatement at either casino. The net result of these firings is one less union dealer for Foxwoods to contend with.

Dealers have been required to meet certain physical characteristics in order to be considered for work in the MGM tower. Men are required to remove all facial hair and have a physique that can adorn the cover of GQ Magazine and women must have the proportions of a Barbie Doll.

As irritating as these requirements might seem, the issue that caused the Foxwoods dealers and the UAW to set up informational picket lines last May is the fact that Foxwoods separated Foxwoods and MGM dealers tips (tokes). “One casino, one union, one toke, no smoke” was the most popular chant, also addressing the demand for a smoke-free work environment. The UAW and the dealers feel that this is yet another attempt by Foxwoods to divide and destroy the solidarity of the dealers after their legally awarded election victory.

The May support rally was attended by local, state and national politicians and union officers including Connecticut AFL-CIO President John Olsen; UAW Region 9A Director Bob Madore and state Attorney General Blumenthal, as well as members of other unions and organizations. Of course, the real honored guests were the Foxwoods dealers themselves.

McCain’s ties to the gambling industry raise the stakes of the presidential election for the dealers as their struggle for a union contract continues.

From the People's Weekly World

When Your Union Contract Expires -- Who Do You Want in the White House?

by Art Perlo

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — As 4,000 workers at Yale University gear up for a contract fight next year, and 2,000 workers at Yale New Haven Hospital continue their organizing drive, the question of who will be president looms large.

Asked “Who do you want in the White House when your union contract expires?” the answer was near unanimous for Barack Obama.

“I just know in my gut that Obama is interested in the well-being of common working people, and McCain is interested in the well-being of big business,” said Susan Klein, a worker in Yale’s library system.

Her gut feeling is echoed by a report on the AFL-CIO web site: “Obama backed working family issues 95 percent of the time in the U.S. Senate, while Sen. John McCain — who voted 95 percent with Bush against working family issues — sides with wealthy bankers and Wall Street.”

Ernie Thompson, a dining hall worker at the university, reflected on the coming contract negotiations. “We’re losing power every minute the Republicans are in office.” Most of his co-workers support Obama, but a few still need to be convinced to vote, said Thompson, who carries voter registration forms with him on the job. “They don’t believe in the political system. They’ve been had too many times.”

For those co-workers who are confused by extremist ads portraying Obama as unpatriotic and inexperienced, Thompson brings the facts about the candidates’ voting records. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm among the African Americans. Some white guys in the skilled trades had no problem with Bush, but a lot are coming over to our side because with the Republicans, unions and job security are out the window,” he said.

Tammy Porter, who works in the hospital cafeteria, supports Obama because “he’s down with the union.” Co-worker Mamie Evans said, “We’ve gotta have Barack to survive.” These workers, who have been trying to organize the hospital’s other departments into the union in the face of illegal management intimidation, are most concerned about passage of the Employee Free Choice Act to back up workers’ right to organize. Obama is a co-sponsor of the EFCA. McCain voted against it.

Food service worker Ray Milici described the stakes: “If we get a pro-labor president, we can change the labor board. We can pass the Employee Free Choice Act. McCain is anti-union. If McCain wins, there’s no chance for the rest of the workers at the hospital to get a union.”

Yale workers are also worried about protecting their health benefits. Their hard-won union contracts include full family health coverage at no cost. McCain’s health care proposal would tax those benefits, costing Yale workers up to $3,500 per year.

Union spokesperson Evan Cobb described this as “adding tax burden to us while shifting taxes off the wealthiest Americans.”

Unite Here, the parent union, was an early endorser of Obama. “It’s important to our international union to support a candidate who believes health care is a right,” said Cobb adding that McCain’s proposal would weaken the excellent health plan now enjoyed by union workers at Yale.

Cobb also addressed presidential appointments to the National Labor Relations Board. He cited the NLRB’s decision, under Clinton, affirming graduate teachers’ right to union representation. But the labor board appointed by Bush revoked those rights. At Yale, graduate teachers are still struggling for recognition.

After winning the congressional elections in 2006, “there’s a much greater sense of hope,” said Cobb. Union members are volunteering in Virginia, as well as locally. “People are aware of the relation between the federal election and the local impact at the community level.”

“The Republicans are stockpiling military weapons, but there’s nothing for heating assistance, schools, crime, environmental cleanup,” said Ernie Thompson. “We’ve lost all our afterschool programs, summer jobs for kids. The Republicans say there’s no money, but they bail out the financial companies.”

Obama’s experience as a community organizer who stresses workers’ involvement is encouraging to the Yale unions, who emphasize membership involvement to organize co-workers and build alliances with the New Haven community,

The unions say their commitment to organizing will continue after Election Day, providing grassroots muscle to pass EFCA.

Milici thinks the election outcome will have an impact on workers’ attitudes: “If McCain wins, the employer will feel empowered. If Obama wins, the workers will feel empowered.”

Thompson agreed: “We need a victory. If Obama wins, people will say we’ve got a voice now.” This will help mobilizing the membership for the next contract negotiations.

Reprinted from the People's Weekly World