Graphic Communicator photos by Susan Zachem

GCIU Pres. George Tedeschi urges delegates to get out the vote in the Nov. 5 elections. Seated from left are NACCU Secy.-Treas. George M. Parrish and NACCU Pres. Mike Marsbergen.

With U.S. congressional, state and local elections just around the corner, delegates to the North American Conference of Commercial Unions (NACCU) focused on the election of worker friendly candidates and the economic and social issues important to working families.

At the meeting hosted by Louisville 619M on the Jeffersonville, Ind., side of the Ohio River, Chris Sanders, secretary-treasurer of the Kentucky State AFL-CIO, urged delegates to get involved and get out labor's message to members and their families in their shops and homes.

Sanders said that the Bush administration destroyed the economic strength built up under President Clinton, including the billions given away to the wealthy and corporations to erode Clinton's budget surpluses. He said this means "there's no better time to have economic populism. It's about bread and butter" Medicare, prescription drugs, Social Security, wages, and pensions.

Examples of candidates who don't deserve union members' votes, Sanders said, are Kentucky Republicans Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Anne M. Northrup of the state's third district. Northrup helped lead the Republican and big business campaign to reverse Clinton's ergonomic standard. Sanders noted that Northrup said during that battle that she doesn't believe that carpal tunnel syndrome is work-related because she gets it from making potato salad. "We say she should go back home and make potato salad," Sanders said.

Sanders said union activists need to work to make sure that these important election issues aren't deflected by such side issues as gun control, which the Republicans used during the 2000 election rather than focus on economic issues.

"It's going to take a lot of work," Sanders said. "But please get involved." He urged local unions to join in coalitions with labor's allies in voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives. The only way, he said, to keep the Senate and regain the House and White House "is through the ballot box."

GCIU Pres. George Tedeschi said that, "unless we as a labor movement get involved, there is no other group that can make a difference for working families."

Tedeschi said union families can donate their time to crucial campaigns, such as that of Sen. Paul Wellstone. The Minnesota Democrat is under heavy fire from conservatives for his staunch support and legislative activism on such issues as the right to organize, minimum wage, equal pay, workplace safety and health, pensions, and fair trade, Tedeschi noted.

From left are: GCIU Vice Pres. Edward J. Toff; Richard J. Whitworth, executive assistant to the GCIU president; and NACCU Pres. and Toronto 100M Exec. Vice Pres. Mike Marsbergen.

GCIU Pres. George Tedeschi, right, talks with Paul Wilmot, left, and John Horsman of Toronto 100M during the North American Conference of Commercial Unions.

Tedeschi also urged local unions and union families to do "whatever you can do" to raise money for political action, including 50/50 raffles and political action fund check-off.

But Tedeschi acknowledged that unions will never match Republicans and big business in political action funding. He noted that President Bush raised $30 million in one night during a Washington, D.C., dinner. "This is what we are up against. Big business is going to pour money into these elections," he said. "We need the weapons to fight for your jobs, rights and benefits."

GCIU Vice Pres. Edward J. Toff reminded delegates that, under the law, if a company has a payroll donation system for a corporate political action fund, then the union can demand its own political action fund check-off.

Toff stressed: "If anybody thinks that politics doesn't affect everything that we do, they're wrong." He cited the example of the GCIU's grant for safety and health training, which the Bush administration cut. Urging members to contact their representatives and senators, Toff said the GCIU and other unions are trying to get the grant reinstated through members of Congress.

Washington 538C Pres. and NACCU Secy.-Treas. George Michael Parrish described how the Bush administration is directly impacting his local. The administration is trying to eliminate the Government Printing Office, he said, urging GCIU families to write to their members of Congress to oppose this privatization.

Local 619M Pres. Richard Street said his primary race for the Louisville city council made him realize how much money is involved even in local politics. "Our politicians have to raise a lot of funds just to get a seat at the table," he said. "Get involved in political activities. It is a must," he urged.

Much of the same anti-worker agenda pushed by conservatives and big business in the United States is also moving across Canada, said NACCU Pres. and Toronto 100M Exec. Vice Pres. Mike Marsbergen. He said, for example, employers have begun to attack union-sponsored benefit plans and other long-time union programs and benefits. "There is a method to their madness," he said. "As long as unions run the plans, the employees' loyalty is to the union and not the employer."

Marsbergen suggested a way to fight this anti-worker agenda is "to educate our members and get more members involved."

Vancouver 25C Secy.-Treas. John Savage said that, with the election of a Liberal Party majority in British Columbia, "our worst fears have been realized." He noted that the Liberals, led by Premier Gordon Campbell, cut taxes – mostly for the wealthy and corporations – then used budget deficits as an excuse for sharp cuts in public services and privatization. Now the Liberals are imposing changes to the labor code that he said will effectively change the purpose of the code away from the protection of workers to an employer bill of rights. He said one of the provisions will allow an employer's claim of a company's economic condition to take precedence over fair wages, working conditions, and benefits.

Savage also warned of the ever growing "convergence of media" in Canada that is impacting the delivery of news to the public. "It doesn't appear that there will be any government action to control it, so it's probably going to get worse," he said. "So, it becomes the viewpoint of the owners that the public receives."

In other business, GCIU Vice Pres. David A. Grabhorn urged local unions – even larger locals – to "think and talk about local union mergers. I would consider it my duty [as a local union officer] because that is a way that I may be able to improve my local's abilities to negotiate the best contracts, enforce them vigorously, and improve our position through organizing." In addition to mergers, he suggested another way to improve local union strength is by pooling resources with other area locals.

Cincinnati 508M Pres. John Agenbroad, chairman of the Inter-Local Pension Fund (ILPF), described the benefits of joining the fund that holds more than $1.7 billion in assets. The fund, which is trusteed by GCIU local union officers, is funded by GCIU members whose contributions are tax-deferrable. Advantages listed by Agenbroad include full retirement benefits at age 60 and reduced early retirement benefits at age 55; and joint survivor, disability and death benefits. He noted that the ILPF is fully complementary to other pension plans and to individual retirement accounts.

Mathew J. Wenner, administrator of the GCIU Employer Retirement Fund, said the ERF, which holds about $1.2 billion in assets, is a joint employer-union trusteed fund that provides retirement, joint survivor and other benefits to members and their families. Wenner noted that the ERF, like other pension funds, suffered from the drop in the investment markets during the past two years, but "in a relative sense the plan did well, with a flat return for 2000 and a 2 percent gain for the [fiscal] year just ended."

"It's an unprecedented time that we're in, with lots of mixed signals in the economy," Wenner said. "Everyone hopes it's going to come back. The underlying economy seems to be doing well."

GCIU Organizer Linda Goad reported on the union's subsidy program to help local unions organize and the training program to develop local organizers.

"We are trying to get members involved and participating in local events, whether it's organizing, political action or other volunteer activities," Goad said.

NACCU officers elected by delegates were: Marsbergen, president; Parrish, secretary; Wesley Wicks, Washington 1C, vice president; Robert Chaney, Wilkes-Barre 137C, eastern representative; Mike Huggins, Indianapolis 17M, midwestern representative; Street, southern representative; Paul Greene, Denver 440M, western representative; Savage, Canadian representative; and Rita Naidopoulos, Toronto 100M, sergeant-at-arms.

GCIU Pres. George Tedeschi swears in NACCU officers. From left are: Pres. Mike Marsbergen; Western Rep. Paul Greene; Canadian Rep. John Savage; Sergeant-at-Arms Rita Naidopoulos; George Osgood, past presi- dent; Southern Rep. Rick Street; Vice Pres. Wesley Wicks; Secy.-Treas. George M. Parrish; Eastern Rep. Robert Chaney; and Tedeschi.