Organizing Victories - International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

RESEARCH AND
ECONOMICS
When You Vote, Remember:
You Are the Producers, The
Consumers and the Taxpayers
0
1\ Tue,day. ovembo!' J. 1991.
Al1lcnc~1J1 vOler.., have the op p () r ~
lunlty 01 mai-..ing a choice \lvhich \\ 111
ha\c profound and la..,lIng effect, 011
the fUiure, oj· all Amcncan,- lhe young
and nOH.,o-young. rhe working. II,e rclired
and Ihe unemployed. On Ilml day
vO ler') will decide who v.:ill lead I he
nitcd SliJIC -; OU I of It, prolonged re­
Ce\'\lon. re~ l orc a ... en~ f economic
falmess and rejuvenate the g lobal competitiven!::,\
of .5. ind u'lric.." Tuesday.
November 3. is Elc('tion Day.
For the last 12 year!'.. the Reagan and
13u~ 1I adl1l i ni~ lrul i() n ... have lIndermined
prog rJ m ~ C"I'icmia l to the health ~md
,,"II-being 01 workingpcople. Occupational
~afl'l) und heahh regulalion""
unemploymcnl cO ll1 pen~alion . healthcare
rc fonn. labor ... wndard~. and prcva
iling-wugc law~ were ignorcd. circu
nwenled or gUllcd. RC ~ l gU I1 nnd Bu ... h
a\,urcd u ... Ihat 'iuch ;JCllon ... were IlcCes,,,r)
111 order 10 prCullotc Job cremion.
COnlpellll\enc ...... and pro~pcrily. "'0 \\
man~ ju b~ were created , and ho\\
IllrlO) of Ihose are len? I-I ow milch
mllre compelilive have U.S. industries
become'? And hO\\ l)roS peruus
arc you uflcr rhree terlllS 01' Reagan
and flus h'!
"Ignore It; It'll Go
Away"
Prc:-.idcnl Bu ~h repea tedly ha ... pronounced
the end or olle of I he;: 1110"
acute rccc,'lon~ ~ u ffcred by the Unitcd
State, , ince World War II. Of ou"C.
forabout a l"ar he denied the econom}
"a~ in rece .. o.,on :11 all. 'uu ... 1010'(
every da) he repon ... Ihal rccmery j-.
under way. dc'pilc ,lali'ltC' relea'cd
by hb ad mlllistra110n which indicate
the economy rcmain'l lihaky, Bush would
have you believe the country ran enJo)
a healthy. Ihriving l'co n ol1l~ only if he
46
i:-. gJvt'1i l our mol'l' ye ars lh prc~ide nt.
I)u .VOIl think he s huuld he rewar ded
with a secund IeI'm. when he accomplished
,0 lillie in his firs!'!
In\ICad of propo..,i ng. an economic
pl,m. B",h prefer, to lay blame for the
lame re covery on '·olher ftlc l or~" and
on other l)I.;ople. at courlic. finding
fuull 1~ cil~icr th~tn findillg a !-IDlution.
J-li:-, InChl prominent action"> have been
lOcyn u,:~ 1 1I propo:-.e lllC'ibUrc he kno\\s
the Congrc,:-, won ' t pa\\; thell he c1arms
If · ", not h" "~wll. bUi nngre.\:-,· ; fhal
lIothing ha l\ been done to im prove the
economy. Thi, year. i3u, h ' Iubbornly
rc"i:-.tcu I.!ITort:, hy Congrc",., 10 as~ist
the long· H:nn llllcmplo ed- until his
:Jdvi",or\ polilled (lui how hi ~u p po n
for ,uch aClion, could help him in the
November elect 10 11 .
No One's Job Is
Secure
The Bu\h adITllni!o.'fallon.like Ihat of
Reagan. react, to the ri:-.ing Ic\'cl of
uru:rnplo}'lllcll t 111 an 1I1dlffcrent manner:
a, if the livc, of 10 million uncmployed
America n .. and Iheir ramilies
h~ l ve n ' l hecl1 :-.hal lc rcd : ,15 if Ihe
economy hasil ', ',~c lI bU ffered by the
1o" of reven uc 1 rorn the unemployed
and the CO,I 01 providing reliel for
thl.!l11. a\ if the 'Iandard of li villg for
1110 .. ( Amcric(ln\ ha ... n"t de li ned again
and again dUflng. I h e~c la ... 1 12 ye'.1r!l,
Bu ... h i !o. oul of touch wilh the effects
of hi' polieic, . and Iho, c of Reagan. on
\\ orkingpeople . BU "ih ha,lI ·t witnc!-I!led
fir"'lha nd the increasf! who have given up looking
after years o f fr ui t lc s~ ~ci.lrc h? In
add ition. hundreds oflh usands of new
worker. enter Ihe labor for e each
mOll1h. "ith very few Jobs available.
While Ihe,e people may not be "offic
ially" unemployed (,in 'c Ihey've ne er
been employed). Ihey are very much
fu ncli nally unemployed.
AI Illc same lime. m,my employed
workcr~ have become complacent aOOm
the increasing number; of unemployed
\vorkcf\. h '~ ea~y ror people who arc
working 10 lo,c 'ighl of Ihe economic
waste li nd the human Iragedy associ­
. Ied willt high uncmploymenl. Many
of the people who arc working never
imag ine Iheir job, are In jeopardy: many
have never w itn c'\~ed Ihe demoraliZing
effecl' of unemployment on clo,", f nen