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Ironworkers Local Union 401 Philadelphia, PA |
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Election '08 Editorial Election '08 - An Editorial by Joseph J. Dougherty, Ironworkers Local 401 Business Manager/Financial Secretary/Treasurer October 1, 2008 Dear Union Members & Friends of Labor: Without a doubt, the November 4, 2008 Presidential Election will mark a turning point in history for the Union Labor Movement as well as the Middle Class Workers of America! While it is always important for the citizens of our Country to exercise their right to vote, it has never been more important then it is today! Just take a look around... our Country is changing right before our eyes! Never has the United States of America been so indebted to foreign nations of the world. Never have there been so many American workers displaced from their jobs! Never have there been so many American families put out of their homes! Never have there been so many American people suffering in illness because of the lack of health insurance! And, NEVER has there been such a devastating decline in the 'union workforce' which has dropped to only twelve percent (12%) of all American workers; while, simultaneously our National Trade Deficit is skyrocketing at the rate of sixty two (62) billion dollars per month. All of which are the result of 'corporate greed' due to the outsourcing of good American manufacturing jobs. Because American construction jobs can not be outsourced, the 'Union Construction Industry" on which we depend to provide a decent living for our families is in serious jeopardy of becoming extinct because the current Republican Administration has refused to enforce our Country's existing Immigration Laws. Thereby, permitting illegal Mexican immigrants to be hired (and exploited) by unscrupulous non-union construction contractors, in turn, causing an unfair disadvantage to the Union Construction Industry. Please believe me, this is not happening unintentionally! The Republican Party, especially on the national level, has never been a friend to Organized Labor. They have always been anti-union... and essentially, anti--labor! Make no mistake about it; they would like nothing better than to bust our Construction Trade Unions. As they share the same philosophy as their corporate supporters... the less they spend on labor, the more they make in profits; thus the reason that the Republicans have consistently challenged American Labor Unions. The fact that our Country's minimum wage workers had to wait ten (10) years until the Democratic Party acquired the majority in both the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Senate before they could receive a wage increase is proof that the Republican Party is against American workers. The fact that George W. Bush, immediately after he and his Republican cohorts had stolen the Presidential Election from Al Gore in 2000, outlawed "Union Construction Project Labor Agreements" proves that the National Republican Party is not a friend of Union Labor. The fact that the Republican Candidate for President of the United States of America, John McCain, has vowed to defeat the "Employee Free Choice Act" is proof again that the Republicans staunchly support Corporatism over the American workers. And, the fact that John McCain's Senate voting record on legislative issues that would benefit America's workers is only seven percent (7%), is yet another example of the Republican Party's ignorance towards problems that affect the working class people in our Country. McCain even wants to tax individual workers on the amount an employer contributes into group health plan coverage. Despite the fact that John McCain is a blue blooded Republican, even he admits that we must make drastic changes in Washington, D.C. The irony of his call for "change" is the fact that "change" is only necessary because of the blunders of his own party. We can't change anything by replacing a Republican with a Republican! Think about it! George W. Bush's Republican Administration took the helm of a prosperous nation in January of 2001. By the end of that same year, we experienced a crash in our stock markets, from which our union's Pension Funds have yet to recover... and, now we are witnessing the most disastrous decline in our country's economic structure since the 'Great Depression of 1929'. Every union pension fund in America is being severely affected by the current economic crisis! Just imagine if George W. Bush and his Republican friends on Wall Street had been successful in privatizing our Social Security Retirement Funds which, John McCain still wants to do. On September 11, 2001, none of us will ever forget the terroristic attacks on America's World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon Complex in Arlington, Virginia, which resulted in the incineration of thousands of innocent American citizens. Incidentally, we recently marked the seventh (7th) anniversary of those horrid attacks on our homeland. Meanwhile, the murderous pig responsible for masterminding them is still walking the face of this earth. This is an absolute disgrace! It portrays a sign of weakness to other countries; as well as embarrassment to the proud and patriotic people of the United States of America. While Osama Bin Laden goes unpunished, and defiantly celebrates the anniversary of his atrocious acts against our Country. Instead of hunting him down, our soldiers find themselves being killed and mutilated in a senseless and unwinnable conflict where they never come face to face with the enemy. And, in a country (Iraq) that had nothing to do with the terrorists who committed those attacks against us. Never before have the American people been so deluded by our Government to make us believe that the war in Iraq was necessary. It was not necessary and it is not even a war! It is an unwarranted occupation of a country whose people are composed of various sects of religious "fanatics" who have been killing each other for centuries. That entire country is not worth the life of one American soldier! Yet, John McCain voted with George Bush to send the young men and women of the U.S. military to fight an eternal war that can not be won, a war against an invisible enemy that will not show its face and for a people whose religion does not believe that we should even exist. What the hell are we doing there? Would you send your son or daughter there to die for no good cause at all? Is it worth the squandering of our Nation's economic security at a cost of ten (10) billion dollars per month, especially at a time when our National Debt is fast approaching the eleven (11) trillion dollar mark? Is it for the oil that is so plentiful in Iraq? Are we sending our young soldiers to die while protecting the "black gold" for the same corporate "oil mongers" that are swindling our people at the gas pumps while reaping billions of dollars in profits? If not, then again, why are we there? How much longer are the working class people of America going to allow themselves to be exploited by the National Republican Party? What more can they do to us and our Country before we realize that they do not share our American Dream? When are we going to pull together to break their choke-hold on the poor and middle class citizens of America and stand up to their tyranny and reverse Robin Hood tax policies? What ever happened to our forefathers' ideal of "a Government of the People, By the People and for the People"? Brothers and sisters, it is time for America's people to speak out and say enough is enough! It is time to say that we are tired of the lies and deceit and that we will no longer tolerate a Government of the Corporations, By the Corporations and for the Corporations! It is time to give our Country back to its people! And, most important of all... it is time for We, the People, to outsource the National Republican Party and send Barak Obama and Joe Biden to Washington, D.C. along with the mandate that We, the People of America, want America to be America again!!! Sincerely & Fraternally yours, Joseph J. Dougherty Business Manager Financial Secretary / Treasurer Ironworkers Local Union 401 |