David
Minnis, Gary Jones, and Jim Wells (speaking) of UAW Region 5Back to news mail to webmaster (Gene Lantz) Back to home page
United Auto Workers retiree leaders from the 8 Eastern States of UAW Region 5 gathered in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, May 23-25, for training. Director Jim Wells welcomed them. He laid out a strong message deploring the current political situation and laying out a general strategic direction for fighting back. Retirees are a strong political force, and they can defend their rights.
Wells decried recent actions by Missouri politicians, where Medicaid cuts were creating hardships. He added, "I'll bet you in Texas you can't jump up and down and tell what the legislature has done for you; and in Arkansas, or Louisiana... Just look at gas prices! Here in this state you're paying nearly $3/gallon. Some places in California it's over $4 a gallon for gas!
In negotiations at Bell Helicopter in Hurst, health care will be the number one issue. Corporations are starting to cancel pension plans wherever there are no unions to defend the workers. General Motors recently announced that there will be no more defined pension plans for non-union employees.
"Every one of these issues that I mentioned deals with politics," Wells told the retirees. "If you can't see what's going on, you have blinders on. If you can't see what George Bush is doing to the people of this country, you have blinders on."
General Motors is cutting 35,000 jobs. Ford is cutting 30,000! The Delphi Corporations is threatening major cuts. The solution is political action. He pointed with pride to activities in the region last year which raised over $1,000,000 in political money and outpaced all other UAW Regions. Wells' speech and other parts of the conference were recorded for re-playing on the KNON Workers' Beat program for Wednesday, May 31, from 8:05 to 9 AM. Listen at 89.3 or on the world wide web at www.knon.org.
David
Minnis, Gary Jones, and Jim Wells (speaking) of UAW Region 5
UAW Region 5 Retiree Rep Dave Minnis announced a major voter registration drive that would begin right away and turn in results by June 15. Of the 9,896 UAW retirees in Texas, a significant number are shown as "unregistered" by the International office. Usually, activists find that many union retirees are actually registered, but listed under a different spelling of their first name or under a different address.
Minnis said that the government tax break for people making over $1 Million is $46,000. For those making under $50,000, the tax break is only $46. One percent of Americans will get the biggest part of the tax breaks. He pointed out that there was a $236 Billion government surplus when the present administration took office, but it is now a $3.3 trillion deficit and is expected to grow to $9 trillion. "People, that's where this country is headed to," Minnis said. He ended his talk this way: "It's people versus profits, people, and I can tell where you stand!"
Benefits experts like Walter Williams explained some of the complicated changes that have come about in "Big 3" automobile contracts. Educator JD Gray gave some of the background for union fund raising efforts and laid out some of the future goals. Some of the retiree activists showed that they didn't have to have extra motivation. Louise Seay and Mary Holomek organized on-the-spot fundraising efforts that brought in important political dollars.
JD Gray also organized an exercise in which small groups of retirees listed immediate political goals and suggested courses of action. Among the issues were pensions, health care, Social Security, minimum wage, medical care, budget cuts, security, insurance company regulation, the war in Iraq, illegal drugs, and border issues.
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