Choosing a Path for Michigan - UAW Local 5960

August 1, 2011 THE UAW LOCAL 5960 REPORT Page 11
BOB KING
Continued from page 8
industry than the union and our
members working in the auto
industry. Workers know that the
success of their employers is in their
own essential long-term interest.
They won’t be jumping ship to grab
onto a golden parachute. They are
in this for the long haul. They are
ready, willing and able to do what
it takes to make their companies
successful.
Our members are energized by
the new paradigm and welcome
their enhanced opportunities
to contribute to our company’s
success.
At GM, for example, our quality
network promotes teamwork and
invites total workforce involvement
and continuous improvement. A
Lordstown, Ohio employee saved
the company almost $200,000 by
suggesting an alternative windshield
sealer operation. Team
members in Pontiac, Michigan
achieved more than $1.2 million
in savings with suggestions to add
plastic protection to a sensor.
At Chrysler, a sprayer in the
paint shop – also a shop steward
– devised a training video to systematize
training for a new shift
and volunteered for a split shift to
assist with the training.
At Ford, it was UAW members on
the assembly line at the Chicago Assembly
Plant that identified quality
problems and advocated strongly
for important process and training
changes with the Taurus launch that
created the best quality launch ever
for Ford up to that time.
At Mitsubishi, UAW members’
proven track record of world best
productivity and quality convinced
top management in Japan to award
their newest vehicle platform to our
UAW facility in Normal, Illinois over
numerous other global sites competing
for this platform.
There are many, many more examples
of such creative and innovative
contributions by our members. Management
will attest to the fact
that the
UAW is
a d d i n g
value to our
enterprises.
At Ford, GM,
Chrysler and Mitsubishi,
the UAW has demonstrated
our commitment to quality,
teamwork, flexibility
and innovation. We have
forged a new culture that
emphasizes trust, openness, cooperation
and creative problem-solving.
Our members have found millions
of hours of annual savings. We are
contributing to product development
and innovative workforce solutions.
We have taken the lead in workforce
training and development. Layers of
management have been eliminated
because the workers are dedicated
to creatively managing their own
processes. Many facilities only have
one main production classification,
and an observer coming into a facility
would not be able to tell who belongs
to management and who is a union
member. At one UAW GM facility
there are no line supervisors, and
UAW members take full responsibility
for their operations.
Just as the UAW has made the
choice to embrace fundamental
change and has committed to working
cooperatively with business, you in the
business community are also facing a
choice. This is a watershed moment
for Michigan business. One choice is
to work with those such as the UAW
who want to engage in a moderate,
inclusive and pragmatic approach
that affirms a social compact between
all segments of Michigan society.
The other choice is to follow the extreme
agenda of the right wing that
embraces ideology and divisiveness.
It is my fervent belief that the more
moderate, creative problem-solving
approach is not only more just and
compassionate, but also more favorable
to the growth of both large and
small business.
Let’s look at the right-wing Republican
agenda and its negative impact
on business. One of its tenets is to
drastically cut taxes on high earners
and corporations at the expense of
public education, public services and
investment in infrastructure. The
problem is, without strong education
at both K-12 and the university level,
we will not produce an educated and
skilled labor force to compete in a
global economy. Without good public
services, we cannot attract business
to our region. Without investment
in infrastructure, our transportation
system, electrical power system and
communication system cannot support
business growth.
The mantra to reduce taxes is a religion
to many extreme Republicans,
but this ideology gets in the way of
practicality and hard facts. The truth
about taxes is that corporate income
taxes as a share of revenue on a federal
level have dropped dramatically
over recent decades. If corporations
paid at the same rate today as they
did in the 1950s, there would be over
$500 billion in additional federal revenue.
The average federal income tax
paid by the highest earners has also
dropped, from almost 30 percent in
1995 to 16.6 percent in 2007.
The Republican budget proposal
that passed the House of Representatives
imposes devastating cuts in
Pell grants for low-income college
students, while at the same time cutting
taxes yet more for the wealthy. If
capital gains on the 400 highest earners
were taxed at 35 percent, it would
have brought in an additional $18 billion
in revenue – enough to provide
Pell grants to more than three million
students who otherwise could not afford
a college education.
A moderate and pragmatic approach
to the budget would not
sacrifice education. A moderate,
pragmatic and inclusive approach
to budgets would recognize that we
can foster the creation of millions
of good jobs through investments in
infrastructure and education.
Another tenet of the right-wing
agenda is to silence the voices of
workers in the public sector by
destroying collective bargaining
rights. Again, I call upon our partners
in the business community
to reject this divisive ideological
agenda that targets the unions of
teachers, firefighters, nurses, police
and state workers. Instead, let us all
work together to make necessary
changes and to find common solutions
that bring prosperity to our
communities.
There is no example in history
of a middle-class democracy that
exists without free, independent
unions. The right to have a union
is a fundamental human right.
Indeed, our democratic economic
competitors – Japan, Korea, Germany
– all acknowledge the role
of unions in their societies, at the
same time as they provide universal
health care and retirement security.
Businesses should re-examine
their instinctive negative reaction
to the notion of unionization.
Federal labor laws in the United
States do not protect the right of
workers in the private sector to join
unions. Employers can with impunity
create a climate of fear by implying
dire consequences if workers
choose to form a union. It is vital
that progressive and moderate
voices in the business community
speak out against union-bashing
extremism and the terrifying vision
of a union-free America.
An America without unions is
an America with no middle class.
An America with no unions and no
middle class is an America that is no
longer the beacon for democracy
and freedom in the world.
Just as the UAW has chosen
fundamental change and a vision
of cooperation between government,
business and labor, I urge
you in the business community to
partner with the UAW of the 21st
century, to reject ideology and to
embrace pragmatism, moderation
and the search for common
ground and common good for all
in society.
Let us work together to build a
prosperous Michigan. Let us work
together for a strong middle class.
Let us work together to create good
jobs and to rebuild our manufacturing
sector. Let us work together to
rebuild infrastructure and invest
in research and development.
Let us work together to provide
dignity and security to our elderly.
Let us work together to build a
strong public education system
and preserve our world-class public
universities. Let us work together
– government, business and labor
– to find creative and pragmatic solutions
to our economic challenges.
This is the Michigan way, and this
is the American way.