Spring 2003
Volume 110 - No. 1
Spring 2003
Volume 110 - No. 1
President's Message
Working together
The workers of America are faced with obstacles like never before. The
past 10 years have seen the political spectrum move further to the right
at the expense of working families. Detrimental changes have been made to
the lives of workers. Corporations and the government have been allowed
to ride roughshod over workers, while the people who stand up for these
workers have been cast aside by moderates who only wish to appease the corporations.
Since the 1992 elections, we have watched the Democratic party - the traditional party of labor - move further to the right. The moderate faction has co-opted the party's agenda against the wishes of the liberal faction and the needs of working Americans. It was the liberals who were always willing to stand up for America's working families by embracing issues such as wages, working conditions, education, health care and a host of other issues. The moderate faction was willing to sell out the traditional base of the party in order to appease corporations. The corporations were allowed to take the traditional place of labor within the party and corporate needs subjugated those of labor.
The needs of corporations - mainly to make greater profits - pushed aside the needs of workers such as a safe working environment, safe schools for our children, better healthcare, etc. The corporations were allowed to do nearly whatever their hearts desired - whether these desires stepped on workers or not - as long they made more money.
For the past decade, we have seen this phenomenon taking place all around us. Everyday when you turn on the news or read a newspaper, you see that the rich are getting richer and the poor are becoming poorer. We are becoming a nation of two classes - the fabulously rich and the direly poor. Throughout history, we have seen two class societies destroyed, but those in power see little need to stop this from happening here. The people in power are a part of the upper class and do not wish to disrupt the status quo because it would eliminate their own personal wealth. They are willing to sell out the lower class in order to ensure their own stature. So America's working families are left out in the cold.
Examples of this greed can be taken from any newspaper or broadcast. Recently, the President's proposed tax cut has been in the news. He proposed a $750 billion tax break that would mainly impact the wealthiest Americans. The ordinary worker would get about $300 back. A millionaire stands to get $30,000 in gains. This proposal would widen the gap between the rich and poor significantly. It would not help working families. It would not stimulate the economy. Working families would still be on the losing end of the economic bargain. A few Senators have taken a stand, but the President is putting the pressure on to get his cuts enacted.
President Bush is not the only problem, as the recent corporate scandals demonstrated. In the past decade, a blind eye has been turned on the issue of corporate misdeeds. Corporations were allowed to cheat their workers and small shareholders while lining their pockets with billions. These scandals showed the utter disregard that corporations have for their workers.
So how do we change these trends? It sounds like a cliché, but I truly believe that by working together we can make changes. This is the reason that the labor movement was founded and this is our very reason for being, but sometimes this is forgotten when organizations have their own agendas.
The labor movement has changed society in phenomenal ways during its existence. We have seen improved working conditions, the 8 hour day, the 40 hour week, an end to child labor, the foundation of Social Security and better public schools. All because people were willing to work together for what they believed in. The BLE was founded 140 years ago on the premise that by working together, we can change lives.
We do not have to support the status quo. We can buck convention and vote for candidates who are not members of the Democratic party. We can make our voices heard and tell the politicians that we will only support them if they support us. Candidates should be held accountable for their actions or inaction. Liberal candidates who support the cause of working families need to be recognized.
The labor movement needs to make its voice heard in the capitol and the
statehouses again and to do this we need to put aside our own agendas and
work together. I plan to do this and I ask all of you for your help. Together,
we can change the lives of all Americans.
© 2003 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers