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Independent
Political Action
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Welcome to our
Political Action
Archives.
Information and material previously posted that you may find helpful.
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PREVIOUS NEWS, ALERTS & UPDATES |
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UE 2007 Mobilization
For Health Care and Retirement Security |
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JOIN US YOU CAN HELP! It's no secret the health care system in the United States is badly broken. Employers across the country are using every means they can to attack the pension benefits of working people. More than 46 million people here have no health care; more than half of all personal bankruptcies are the result of a family health care crisis. Thousands of companies have terminated, frozen or under-funded their pension plans while hundreds of others have simply dumped their pension liability on the federal government's woefully inadequate fallback, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).
If you're fed up with all of this; affected by any of this or correctly worried that the situation will only get worse in the future, join us as we mobilize our entire union to respond to what is a genuine attack on UE members and all working people.
SIGN OUR ONLINE PETITION
OR GATHER YOUR OWN SIGNATURES
KEEP IT UP! We've already gathered thousands of signatures on petitions circulated in UE plants and communities and online. The first-round of petitions were presented to appropriate committee chairpersons in Congress by a delegation of UE officers and members of the UE General Executive Board in late March. And we'll be going back ...
RESOURCES AND MORE INFORMATION
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Issues Briefing
Defending Our Interests:
Key Issues in 2004
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The Bush Administration and Congress don't have ordinary people's best interests on their agenda. Here are five key cases in point; issues important to working people where we need to take a stand:
(These issues briefings were developed for the 2004
UE Political Action Conference in Washington.)
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UE's 2003
Congressional Scorecard
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New! It's UE's annual Congressional Scorecard! Republican dominated and business-controlled, Congress did little in 2003 but continue the ongoing assault on working peoples' interests. From tax cuts for the rich to the burgeoning federal deficit, we found little to cheer about. We evaluate the record of the first session of the 108th Congress by looking at six key issues: overtime pay, the Medicare prescription scheme, spending priorities, another job-killing trade deal, litigation rights and debt policy (for both the government and working people).
How did your state's Senators and Representative(s) vote (for you or for big business)? Find out by starting with the background ... or jump right to the rankings ....
Our last seven Congressional Scorecards are all available on one interactive web page. You can choose the year(s) and state(s) you'd like to view and get a complete "report card" on any of the members of Congress whom we've ranked! (It's all on our rankings page ...)
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"The Old Band's Back Together"
Bush's Corporate Cabinet
The website opensecrets.org says "Comedian Jon Stewart once joked that watching President George W. Bush pick his White House staff was like watching "the old band get back together." Its true that many of Bushs choices for the cabinet and top White House posts come from former Republican administrations, going all the way back to Gerald Ford. But whats notable about this administration is not only the bona fide government credentials that the staff sportsits also the corporate connections they bring into the White House."
Want to know how well-connected they are? Look no further ... here are links to two websites that do a good job of documenting those with heavy duty corporate connections who are now setting national policy (these links will open in a new browser window):
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Presidential Election 2004
UE Voter Registration Drive:
Register Vote and Dump Bush!
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It's time to act. The labor movement is focused on removing George Bush from office this November. Let's make sure it happens. Read our "How We're Going to Dump Bush: A Rank-and-File Checklist" for ideas. Download, copy and distribute the fliers below to help ensure the largest voter turnout possible. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! LET'S DO IT!
BUTTONS! Make sure everyone in your local and your community has a UE "Dump Bush" button to show their support for change this fall. Here's how to order ...
GET OUT THE VOTE STICKERS! Print these yourself to help turn out the vote on election day. Two different stickers: "I'm Voting" and "I Voted" (in both color and black & white) . Details ...
"DUMP BUSH!" - THE DRIVE TO ELECTION DAY:
We've Got To Turn Out the Vote!
VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE:
(there's still time to register in many states!)
UE local unions have been working hard on our Nationwide voter registration drive. We're working to build turnout during for the November election. The goal is to remove the Bush Administration from office as 'the most anti-worker administration of our lifetime.' Check out our collection of educational materials, fliers and state-by-state registration information ... sign people up ... then urge (REALLY URGE) them to vote!
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The Labor Party's
Convention & Conference 2002
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The Labor Party held its 2nd Constitutional Convention and 2002 Conference in Washington D.C. on July 25-28 in Washington. Delegates developed a concrete plan to continue building an alternative to the bosses' two political parties ... The Labor Party! UE News Coverage ...
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Congress to Workers: "Suffer"
OSHA Ergonomics Rule
Destroyed; Permanently Banned?
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OSHA's
ergonomics
rule
overturned |
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The U.S. House and Senate, largely along party lines, have voted to overturn OSHA's new ergonomics standard and, in effect, permanently ban it from issuing a similar rule in the future. President George W. Bush, of course, wasted no time in signing the measure which had only gone into effect in January, 2001. Full Story, including how your Senators and Representative voted ... |
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Labor Rights, USA
Unfair Advantage
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Following an intensive yearlong study, Human Rights Watch has concluded that workers in the United States lack the most basic, internationally recognized, workplace rights the freedom to organize, bargain and strike. The result of "weak" labor law that allows employers to fire, harass and intimidate workers trying to form unions; to refuse to bargain seriously when workers do form unions; and to nullify the right to strike by permanently replacing those who do strike. The report, "Unfair Advantage: Workers' Freedom of Association in the United States under International Human Rights Standards," is available at www.hrw.org/reports/2000/uslabor
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Effect on Wages
The Corporate
Agenda at Work
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In the United States, we're working longer and harder for less ... and unions and working people are not the only ones to say so. Here are wage comparisons between manufacturing workers in industrialized countries as reported by the Department of Labor from 1975 and 1999 (along with some of the reasons why big business has been so successful in pushing its agenda along) ... |
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National Health Care
A Blueprint For Health Care
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On the Labor Party Web: What would an effective, single-payer U.S. national health care system look like and how would it work? The Labor Party, working with leading economists and health care analysts, has developed a comprehensive plan outlining just how a national health care system could and would work in the United States. Under the Labor Party's "Just Health Care" plan:
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every resident would be fully insured;
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deductibles and co-payments would be eliminated;
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Americans would receive comprehensive coverage for necessary long-term, mental health, dental, vision and occupational health services;
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individuals would have the freedom to choose their doctors, hospitals and other health care providers.
Sound impossible? It's not check out the details on the Labor Party's website.
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Exploitation and Profit
The High Costs
Of "Free Trade"
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Using NAFTA to derail organizing: Cornell Universitys Kate Bronfenbrenner has completed a report documenting how, in NAFTAs aftermath, employers have used plant closings, or just the threat of plant closings, to keep workers from organizing. She notes, that even if trade agreements had real power to enforce labor rights, employers would still not be prevented from using job loss threats to intimidate vulnerable workers. Her report is available on the U.S. Trade Deficit Review Commission's website (the report is available in Adobe's Acrobat (pdf) format; you can start the download by clicking here).
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Campaign Financing
Who's Buying The Elections? |
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The Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics makes it its business to find out who's behind campaign contributions and (surprise) ... big money was once again the big winner in November. Their most recent report ("Who Paid for This Election") contains " a wealth of information about who contributed the money that paid the bills in the 2000 elections, including top individual political donors, top contributing organizations, and which industries gave the most."
Previously, the Center reported business out-contributed any other group including working people by more than an 11-to-1 margin in the 1998 election cycle (see: The Big Picture the Money Behind the 1998 Elections). The total given to candidates and parties by business amounted to whopping $666.6 million, while working people, through their unions, were a "distant second" at only $60.8 million. The gap widened in 2000.
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What Happens When
Working People Don't Vote?
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Well, for one thing, we make this guy (at left) and all the other people like him very, very happy. For another thing, we lose any chance of having our views represented by politicians at all levels of government national, statewide, and local. Take a moment to review (print, distribute) some of the issues at stake ... and make a commitment to get out to vote on Tuesday, November 5th. Go ahead, disappoint the bosses!
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Wealth and Income
The Rich Fly High ...
... But Most of Us Barely
Get Off the Ground |
... 20%
of all
children
live
in
poverty |
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Despite the hype surrounding the record-setting U.S. economic boom, the prosperity being enjoyed by a relative few is nothing more than an economic nightmare for millions of Americans. While the rich have become super-rich, half of all U.S. households live on less than $39,000 a year and about 20% of all children live below the official poverty line.
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Support Real Labor Law Reform
Legislation introduced by Representative Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) would finally put some teeth back into the nation's labor law. Find out how you can help!
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Issues Briefing 2001
Confronting Corporate Power
Defending Our Jobs and Schools
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The current Congress and the Bush Administration have proven themselves to be anti-labor and anti-worker (business lobbyists are reported to be "exuberant" about Washington's "pro-business" climate). Here's some of what anti-worker politicians are planning for this session of Congress ... and what we face in defending our jobs, schools and standard of living ...
(These issues briefings were developed for the 2001
UE Political Action Conference in Washington.)
More:
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