By Dennis R. Pierce
BLET National President
CLEVELAND, September 2 — Labor Day 2011 finds the BLET and other unions throughout the United States embroiled in a war for our very existence. The opening salvo in the War on Workers was fired in Wisconsin earlier this year, as the state’s governor and political extremists hammered through legislation to strip unions of their collective bargaining rights. Similar attacks on unions following in Ohio and other states, where deep-pocketed corporations have used bought-and-paid-for politicians to force their anti-union agendas into law.
While this war is far from over, labor has had its share of victories. In Wisconsin, anti-union politicians have been recalled and removed from office. In Ohio, a citizen-led initiative forced the state to place the anti-union legislation on the ballot, where it will hopefully be overturned in November. Public support was overwhelmingly against the measure: 231,000 signatures were needed to put the measure on the ballot, and the citizens collected nearly 1.3 million.
The BLET and its members are not immune from these attacks. We are embroiled in a round of national bargaining in which the carriers are trying to increase their record profits by shifting health care costs to our oldest and sickest members, and on the injured. Radical Republicans in the House of Representatives have taken the Federal Aviation Administration hostage in an attempt to impose anti-democratic representation election rules on railroad and airline workers that don’t exist anywhere else in America. Efforts to cut Social Security, if successful, will have a direct and negative impact on our Railroad Retirement system. And attacks against Amtrak and the National Mediation Board could be detrimental to our jobs and our retirement.
I have said before that union membership is not a spectator sport. That holds true for the War on Workers. In Wisconsin and Ohio, it took the commitment of thousands of union members to fight back against wealthy corporate interests. I remind each and every BLET member of their civic duty — to vote. Become an informed voter and vote for union-friendly candidates and against anti-union measures. The best way to protect our jobs and our future is to fight for legislators and judges who support our agenda and the work that we do. Parallel to your civic duty is your obligation to our Brotherhood — to be informed and to become involved in our battles that will define your family’s economic security.
On this Labor Day, I ask that you all join me in honoring those who came before us. Let us not forget the struggles they endured so that we can enjoy the quality of life that we have today. And also, I ask you to stand and join me in the fight for our rights and our future. It is our duty on this day to join hands in struggle and do for the next generation of locomotive engineers and trainmen what those whom we honor did for us.