An open letter from Vice President Lawrence Martinez, GCIU political action director

Lawrence Martinez

Dear GCIU Member,

In my 39 years of following politics while a member of the GCIU, I have heard many charges and counter-charges from politicians during campaigns, and, after a while, I start to ignore them. But, this campaign is too important to ignore.

As I think back over my GCIU career, first as a member, a local officer and then as an elected International Vice President, I remember the many presidential contests that were dubbed "the most important election ever." It was good drama, and I suppose it helped produce financial support and volunteers, but, as I look back, I realize that the election that will take place on Nov. 2 is absolutely the most important choice between candidates and political philosophies that working Americans have ever had.

From the viewpoint of Americans who must work for a living, the upcoming contest between Bush and Kerry is a "no-brainer." Judging from the actions of the Bush administration during its first three-plus years, there is no doubt that working families will do better if Bush is returned to his Crawford, Texas, farm and John Kerry takes over the White House.

Now, don't get me wrong. This is not intended as anti-Republican rhetoric. There are good GOP lawmakers who try to remember the working Americans who elected them. But the White House has been taken over by a president who cares little about the issues that affect working Americans. What is more, he has proven himself to be hostile to our interests.

Let's look at the record. One of the first things George W. Bush concerned himself with after his election was pushing for privatization of the Social Security program that has served our retirees well since 1935. He was determined to turn over the massive pool of money in the Social Security fund to the bankers and investors so they could risk our retirements in the stock market. The only thing that prevented this disaster was the emergence of a recession under his economic policies. There are very few good things that recessions do, but saving Social Security is one of them.

And the list goes on: To try to make political capital, Bush decided to change Medicare. He was more interested in opening the federal program up to private competition but needed to sweeten the law with a much touted prescription benefit for seniors to get it passed. As it turned out, the administration's Medicare Law of 2003 – in addition to providing the legislative wedge to replace the federal system with HMOs – will cost much more than the White House had assured the Congress it would. Lawmakers who voted to pass the bill brought charges that cost information was withheld.

Have you noticed the high percentage of jobless these days? Although the Bush White House keeps telling us that America is recovering from the economic depression, each Bureau of Labor Statistics report that I read shows that many plants are closing down to move overseas. The only jobs that open up in the communities are low wage positions. Many non-partisan economists think that Bush administration policies that actually reward companies for moving overseas are at fault. The "outsourcing" to foreign shores costs about 10,000 jobs a month and U.S. corporations laid off 117,556 in January, according to the AFL-CIO.

But, other White House policies make life tougher even for those of us who are lucky enough to have a good job. New regulations just taking effect will eliminate the need to pay overtime pay to up to 8 million Americans. One of the benefits to belonging to a union is that overtime pay is mandated in black and white, and firms have to pay the extra money for extra time. But, the 40-hour work week is under attack and part of the Bush legacy will be to help his corporate friends' bottom line and end extra pay for extra work.

Another reason I am writing this letter to try to convince our members of the importance of voting for John Kerry. American workers and their families need to have available affordable quality health care. Over the past three years, President Bush and his government have steadfastly resisted any expansion of health care for our citizens. In fact, when any health-related legislation comes up, health industry lobbyists are often the ones who write the provisions that will become national policy.

Despite the fact that the United States is clearly the world leader in medicine, during the years of Republican control of Congress and the Bush presidency, every effort to expand health care for American families has been defeated because there is more profit for health insurance companies by blocking change. The trouble is that, with our depressed economy and high joblessness, many American families cannot afford health insurance premiums and they just have to hope that family members stay healthy. Most of the other industrialized nations in the world have taken measures to provide and pay for health care to all of their citizens, as our GCIU members in Canada will verify.

Early in his administration, this president liked to call himself "the education president." According to teachers across our nation, his policies and priorities have done much to weaken school systems across the country, rather than help them. In a way, the "Leave No Child Behind" education bill the administration trumpets sets up many standards and then leaves cash-strapped local education systems to pay for them. I don't care how anti-tax some people are, I still say it is not logical to chop taxes for the wealthy and give short shrift to educating the boys and girls who will be the future of our great nation.

I think what this letter is trying to do is to present the facts to our members and let them decide which of the presidential candidates would be better for the future of America. For me personally, I was willing to give the Bush administration a chance when they came into office. But I quickly learned that our president is more concerned with pleasing corporations than working Americans.

I am sure that some of you will read this letter and realize that it was written in a fair-minded attempt to give you the facts before you vote on November 2, 2004. I am sure that others will think it is part of an anti-Republican mindset that labor unions have been accused of in the past. But, whichever category you are in, I hope it makes you think about what I have said above. And, when election day comes, please vote accordingly.

In addition to voting wisely, I am sure that many of you will want to do more to support the GCIU-backed candidate, Sen. John Kerry. We are asking that our members donate at least $5 to the GCIU Political Action Fund (PAF). Please send checks or money orders to: GCIU Political Action Fund, 1900 L St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20036. This will enable us to join spread the message more widely and help other deserving candidates, of both parties.

The welfare of working Americans is becoming increasingly dependent on what is going on in the White House and Congress and the state houses and city and town governments. Our union should raise enough funds for us to be a "player" in the political process that affects all our lives, from the cradle to the grave.

As I said earlier, this is the most important election I can remember in my long career as a union political action coordinator. Please help support the candidate who will be best for America.

Fraternally,
Lawrence Martinez