Winner! - International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

DYou had to dig to find the story about
how some 20,000 people tried to make
their voices heard against a trade agreement
that would multiply the effects of
NAFTA by bringing the “benefits” of free
trade to countries throughout Latin America
and the Caribbean, making them the
latest targets for low-wage exploitation and
the export of more U.S. jobs. The media
focused on the animal rights activists wearing
dolphin suits and the usual band of
anarchists who tangled with police. The
Washington Post even described some of
the demonstrators as “comic.”
I was there, along with Secretary-Treasurer
O’Connor and other IBEW brothers
and sisters from Florida and elsewhere representing
almost all of our branches, as well
as other trade union members. There was
nothing violent about our demonstration.
And there was certainly nothing funny
about the message we were there to
deliver—the message that we are sick and
tired of the FTAA and other trade agreements
that have decimated jobs and communities
across North America only to line
the pockets of an ever smaller corporate
elite.
We’ve published the numbers before,
but they’re worth going over again. Since
1998, some 2.4 million manufacturing jobs
id you hear or read about the recent
protests in Miami over the Free Trade
Area of the Americas (FTAA) in your
local newspaper or on your regular TV
or radio station? If you did, consider
yourself well informed.
have been lost in the United States, a 13 percent drop in that
sector. About one half million of those jobs are attributed to
NAFTA, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The United
States’ trade deficit is close to $500 billion and counting, and
the Bush Administration and their allies don’t care.
The IBEW members and other trade union folks marching
in Florida weren’t there to protest abstract numbers. They were
there to talk about the loss of the real jobs of real people—the
I Was There And
We Refuse To Be Silenced
lost television jobs in Indiana, the disappearing high tech jobs
in Oklahoma City, Orlando, Allentown, Pennsylvania, Columbus,
Ohio and elsewhere, and the virtual extinction of electronic
manufacturing in North America. I admire our brothers
and sisters who made the effort to come to Miami, and I thank
them for speaking out for all workers.
Unfair trade agreements give corporations ammunition to
squeeze workers on the grounds of being “competitive” with
developing nations. Bad trade policies
cause people to lose health insurance,
drain state budgets of needed revenues for
schools, reduce contributions that sustain
pension funds, and generally drive down
wages and standards in industry after
industry. No one is secure in an atmosphere
like we have today.
You may have heard that the meeting
of the trade ministers ended without an
agreement on FTAA. That is only temporary.
There is too much money at stake for
the big players for them to give up. As
Robert Zoellick, the U.S Trade Representative,
put it: “I view [the talks] as a ninecourse
sit-down dinner.” That’s a good
comparison. The fat cats may have their
banquet, but those of us just trying to get
EDWIN D. HILL
INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT
“
IBEW MEMBERS
WERE THERE
TO TALK ABOUT
THE REAL JOBS OF
REAL PEOPLE.”
by in an ever more polarized economy are
going to be left with the crumbs.
We have fought too hard to win fairness,
decency, and the opportunity to
make a living and build a decent way of
life to give up now. The fight to turn
things around is just beginning. The
upcoming year is going to tell us a lot
about what kind of future we will have
and what kind of society our children and
grandchildren will inherit. We will be calling
on you to help carry the fight in 2004.
In the meantime, I wish every member
of the extended IBEW family a happy and
healthy holiday season. If you have not yet done your gift buying,
please shop for North American-made products. And may
the spirit of the season sustain your hearts and souls so that
we enter the New Year with the spirit of determination. 1
A Not-So-Fond Farewell to 2003
Ihope that all of you can look back on 2003
and count some personal blessings. The big
picture for the year has hardly been cause
for comfort and joy.
Recently, President Hill and I joined AFL-CIO President
John Sweeney, Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka and thousands
of union members to protest the
proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas
(FTAA), the infamous “NAFTA on steroids”
about which you have read in these pages.
I am glad that we are raising our voices in
the streets, and I hope that the experience
of ten years of “free trade” has finally
drummed some sense into the public. Lord
knows it hasn’t dented the thick skulls of
politicians and corporations.
In his three years in office, George W.
Bush has delivered job losses in the
amount of 3 million. He is an equal
opportunity unemployer, hurting workers
in manufacturing, the service sector, and
technical workers without regard to race,
creed or income level.
The turn of the calendar also means
that the next round of the tax cuts sought
by the Bush Administration and passed
by Congress will take effect. Remember,
that the tax bill was not a one-time deal.
It was more like a “gift that keeps on giving,”
because its impact would come in
bursts. Sort of like a time bomb.
I took a look at the numbers put out
by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget
Office. In 2001—when Bill Clinton left
office—the 10-year projected budget surplus
was $5.6 trillion. In September 2003,
the 10-year projected deficit is $5.5 trillion.
As former Treasury Secretary Robert
Rubin commented in Newsweek recently,
even adjusted for accounting methodology, the turnaround
has been $10 trillion in just three years.
So the only conclusion is that the President’s tax and
trade policies have been built on lies.
The budget picture is not helped by the administration’s
request for $87 billion to address the situation in Iraq. And
that’s another story.
JEREMIAH J. O’CONNOR
INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY-TREASURER
“
TOGETHER,
WE WILL NEED
THE STRENGTH
TO ACT IN UNITY
IN 2004.”
Last month, we marked the 40th anniversary of the assassination
of President John F. Kennedy. I was reminded of
Kennedy’s words from his inaugural address which seemed
very relevant today: “Let every nation know, whether it wishes
us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden,
meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to
assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
I think that the people are still willing to abide by those
lofty ideals, even at a cost. The problem is
that we were asked to put our heroic
troops in harm’s way and spend our
resources in Iraq for specific reasons. One
by one, the reasons put forth by the President
and Vice President for this war are
turning out to be lies.
There is a day of reckoning coming. It
may or may not be Election Day (although
I fervently hope it is). But we cannot go
on indefinitely with all of these clouds
hanging over our heads. We cannot hope
to create the kind of world we want for
ourselves and our children when lopsided
policies squeeze the life out of the poor
and middle class, and while our leaders
invent reasons to engage in costly, protracted
and increasingly bloody overseas
conflicts. We have got to do something
before it all comes tumbling down.
Save your most heartfelt prayers this
holiday season for our men and women
fighting in the Middle East and around the
world. But let’s pray for each other too.
Together, we will need the strength to act
in unity in 2004. Whether it be in the
workplace, in the election booth, or in the
streets, working families must be on the
march in 2004 or we can kiss our future
security goodbye.
There’s a lot more to be said, and I
will spend time in 2004 talking about
them with you in every possible way—
face-to-face whenever possible. In the meantime, have a
wonderful holiday season. Rest, laugh, enjoy—because come
January 1, we have a lot of work to do. 1
2 IBEW JOURNAL, DECEMBER 2003
IBEW JOURNAL, DECEMBER 2003 3