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March-April 2008
Legislative Conference Makes
Plans to 'Turn Around America'
Participants Exhorted to 'Mobilize Now!'
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The ATU 2008 Legislative Conference was held from March 8-11, in Washington, DC. Representatives of U.S. locals came to learn about the legislative and political initiatives which the Union will pursue in the coming year, and to lobby their congressional representatives in the nation’s capital.
The possibility that a labor-friendly president and a filibuster-proof Senate could be elected in November added to the excitement of the event which was taking place during one of the most extraordinary political seasons anyone could remember.
Set against the backdrop of a close contest between the first female candidate and the first African-American to have legitimate shots at winning the Democratic presidential nomination, there was a real sense that history was in the making. 
Begin Mobilizing Now
ATU International President Warren S. George opened the conference with an appeal to participants to take the information learned at the conference back to their locals and members. He challenged the participants to begin mobilizing their members around issues that will be important in the upcoming presidential election. "We can’t wait for the Democrats to choose their nominee," warned George."The Republicans have chosen a nominee who has voted against funding public transportation and has voted to rollback crucial ‘Section 13(c)’ transit labor protections. We need to start educating our members on John McCain’s ant-transit labor record now."
'Turn Around America'
The conference was privileged, once again, to be addressed by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. The U.S. labor leader presented the theme that will be used in the federation’s election campaign. 
"Turn Around America" will be the "mantra" of the coming campaign which brings together all of the hopes and dreams of working American families and focuses Labor on the electoral task at hand.
Sweeney warned the conference that a McCain administration would be organized labor’s "worst nightmare," and that we can not afford four more years of the same failed policies of the Bush administration.
Recognizing that individual unions may differ in their presidential endorsements and on some issues, the federation president urged "above all else we must stay unified" in the coming election.
"This is our moment," he asserted.
How to 'Turn Around America'
The nuts-and-bolts of the "Turn Around" campaign were left to AFL-CIO Field Director Paul Lemmon who presented statistics showing that ATU members voted in much higher than average numbers in the most recent congressional elections, and demonstrated how that level of participation can have a big impact on the next election. 
Lemmon also looked at the electoral map and outlined a campaign "battle plan" for 2008. He showed just how the November elections could be won in both the executive and legislative branches of government.
Phone Call from the Campaign Trail
The conference heard from Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton whose phone call was broadcast to the participants. Clinton thanked International President George and the ATU for their "early and consistent support," noting the ATU signs she sees along the campaign trail.
The conference-goers responded enthusiastically to the call from the New York senator who has been endorsed by the ATU in her bid for the White House.
The conference participants fully realized that the coming election presents a great opportunity to advance the Union’s legislative agenda. Consequently, they immersed themselves in the transit and labor issues that are important to the ATU throughout the event. 
Health Care
At the top of almost anyone’s agenda is health care, and, appropriately, the first guest speaker was the AFL-CIO’s Nick Unger, who focused on that issue.
"Health care is going the wrong way," he insisted, "It costs too much, covers too little, excludes too many, and is getting worse."
Unger was frank, challenging what he believed to be a weakness in Labor – that union members believe that everyone in the U.S. thinks about health care in the same way they do.
"The country is going in the wrong direction," Unger explained."The opportunity to change that direction is there, but the assumption that everyone sees it the way you do is a recipe for defeat." Unger provided the example of the last presidential contest in which got beat in an election we should have won."
Unger warned the participants to take nothing for granted, bluntly stating that "the side which defines the issue wins! If we don’t win in November there will be no health care reform."
But, he also reminded them that, "People + Passion = Power," and he asked them to use that as a recipe for their own power.
He led the conference through issue-defining responses to the standard arguments against national health insurance and challenged the group to argue for their position on their terms, rather than those of our opponents. "Take the issue away from them," he exhorted, "and make it ours."
 Transit Labor Issues
Ed Wytkind, president of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department, delivered a blistering speech in which he condemned the failed, and anti-labor policies of the Bush administration, and the anti-transit and anti-labor positions of Sen. John McCain (see page 54), the presumptive Republican nominee for president.
Wytkind insisted that "All of us must mobilize. This is the year we clean up the culture of corruption. This is the year we begin to treat our soldiers with respect. This is going to be our year. We can win this. We must win this.
Employee Free Choice Act 
The AFL-CIO’s Organizing Director Stewart Acuff gave an inspirational address on the importance of passing the employee free Choice Act (EFCA). EFCA is a bill that would, among other things, permit workers to establish a collective bargaining unit after a majority of the employees where they work sign cards indicating they want a union.
Acuff documented the link between the decline of real wages and benefits in America and the decline in the "density" of union membership. He charged that the current administration has "driven our economy into a ditch."
"They are taking away the American Dream!" Acuff shouted, adding, "You cannot legislate a middle class; you must bargain for it." That is why EFCA is so important.
"If things keep going in this direction, eventually we won’t recognize our country," he warned. "Sooner or later, economic inequality trumps democracy. This is about the future of our children and grandchildren."
Acuff asked for and received a commitment from every participant to get at least 10 percent of all of their local memberships to sign a card urging their congressional representative to vote for EFCA. Not only did they commit but every participant signed a card.
Workforce Development
In recent years ATU and the American Public Transportation Association, a public transit trade association, have held their legislative conferences concurrently – with International President George and
APTA President Bill Millar addressing each other’s organization.
The 2008 conference took another step by bringing together some ATU local officers, management representatives, and former U.S. Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall for a wide-ranging panel discussion on workforce development issues.
The discussion was cordial as labor and management discussed areas of cooperation as well as areas in their relationship that need to be improved. Marshall gave a broad overview of the transit industry exploring its strengths and weaknesses and prospects for the future.
Participants on the panel included:
Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall; Atlanta’s MARTA General Manager Beverly Scott, Ph.D., and Local President Benita West, 732-Atlanta, GA; New York MTA Director and CEO Elliot G. Sander and Local President Ed Figueroa, 1056-Flushing, NY; Transit Authority of River City Executive Director J. Barry Barker and local President Jonathan J. Hunt, 757-Portland, OR.
Members of Congress also addressed the conference:
- Transportation and Infrastructure Committee member Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-TX, spoke on the need for bipartisan solutions and approaches to addressing transit and infrastructure issues.
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee member Rep. - Daniel Lipinski, D-IL, addressed the need for federal assistance for transit operating expenditures.
- Celebrated civil rights leader and Chair of the labor task Force of the Congressional  Black Caucus, Rep. John Lewis, D-GA, delivered a passionate speech in which he thanked ATU members for the important public service they provide every day.
Longtime transit advocate Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-OR, - spoke about the challenges facing American infrastructure and the looming deficit in the Highway Trust Fund. He warned that the current Administration has proposed taking up to$3.2 billion from the Mass Transit Account to cover the shortfall in the Highway Fund.
On the final day of the conference, ATU members went to Capitol Hill to meet with their Members of Congress and talk to them about issues of importance to transit labor.
The conference wrapped up with a joint labor-management Congressional reception, hosted by the ATU and APTA for Members of Congress
Throughout the conference, there was a palpable sense that this was just the beginning of what might be a historic year in electoral and legislative politics. |
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