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JOHN J. FLYNN
President
International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
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Issue 1 - 2008
With ‘Super Tuesday’ behind us, the discussion is shifting to how congressional and presidential candidates will address the most critical issues facing our country – a weak economy, the war in Iraq, and skyrocketing health care costs. These issues were at the top of BAC members’ and voters’ list of concerns going into the primaries, and while the order may have shifted, they continue to top the list. Embedded within these topics, but often lost in the campaign rhetoric, are the “bread and butter” issues that every family, worker and BAC member should consider when selecting candidates to support at the local, state and federal level. These are important issues for several reasons:
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Without political leaders who understand the importance of funding construction projects and using skilled craftworkers to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, it will only be a matter of time before we see more disasters such as the bridge collapse in Minnesota last year.
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Without political leaders who understand the critical connection between earning a decent wage, a thriving economy and family stability, each of these will continue to erode. Although getting a one-time check in the mail for several hundred dollars under the current economic stimulus package may help Americans pay off some bills, what individuals and families really need are long-term solutions that result in good paying jobs.
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Finally, without leaders who support meaningful health care reform, we will see the ranks of the uninsured grow, the push to tax our health benefits gain support, the cost of providing health care grow until it is effectively rationed because only those who can afford to pay will have coverage, and health care plans such as ours will be priced out of the market.
Leading up to the November election, the Journal, our website (www.bacweb.org) and other communication vehicles will provide you and your family with information on where the candidates stand on the “bread and butter” issues, including the candidates’ positions on:
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The Employee Free Choice Act, which guarantees a worker’s right to join a Union.
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Funding school and infrastructure construction projects that include prevailing wage guarantees so that construction workers on these projects receive fair wages and benefits.
- Reforming the health care system. We need to fix what is broken with the health care system in ways that do not place the entire burden on the individual, take away our choice of doctors, or make us choose between health care and other life necessities.
Between now and November we encourage you to learn more about these issues and what they mean for you as Union members and American workers, discuss these issues with your coworkers, friends and family, and be an informed voter on election day.
In this issue of the Journal, we will begin with health care reform. I think we can all agree with the AFL-CIO’s health care reform campaign’s banner: “In America, No One Should Go Without Health Care.”
All too frequently in the last few years pundits and anti-union groups have gone out of their way to try to convince the public that labor’s dead – that we are an anachronism – no longer needed – and have lost our clout. In the words of Mark Twain, the reports of labor’s demise have been “greatly exaggerated.”
In fact, according to a January 25, 2008 report from the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, last year alone, union membership in America’s building trades unions increased by almost 100,000 members or by 8.7 percent and, in contrast to their nonunion counterparts, wages matched or exceeded inflation. BAC contributed to this growth by posting an annual increase in members and wages for 2007.
“Clearly, BAC and the rest of the unionized construction industry are still here and still have a vital role to play in strengthening the construction industry, helping to pull the country out of its current economic doldrums, and rebuilding our country’s crumbling infrastructure,” said IU President John J. Flynn.
“We have the training programs that make the masonry-trowel trades an attractive career option for men and women trying to decide on a career, military personnel transitioning to the private sector, and individuals interested in making a career change,” he added. |
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If you have ideas for stories or issues of concern, let us know by emailing us at askbac@bacweb.org or writing to:
International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
Attention: Communications Department
620 F Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20004
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