Remarks by UAW President Ron Gettelfinger
2004 National CAP Conference
Washington, D.C.
February 2, 2004

Thank you, Dick, for the introduction and thanks to all of you for that warm reception. I also want to thank all of you for the respect you show to this position as well as for the respect you show to our entire Board and our Union as a whole.

I want to publicly thank our secretary-treasurer, our five vice presidents and 11 regional directors for their commitment, dedication and their hard work. They are a pleasure to work with on your behalf.

Several of our board members have union obligations at home, which prevented them from joining us, but they are with us in spirit.

I would be remiss if I did not recognize Bill Stevenson for the great job that he does … as well as Alan Reuther and Steve Beckman and their staff in the Washington office …as well as all of our staff in working with our local union leadership and membership.

We’re especially pleased that retired President Owen Bieber could join us. We appreciate all that he does to assist us in so many areas.

Owen is a true example of a grassroots activist. Whether it’s attending meetings or walking the precincts, we can count on him. Thank you, Owen, for your continued involvement.

We also want to welcome our first-time delegates and retirees who contribute so much to our movement. Thank you for all that you do.

On behalf of our entire International Executive Board, we’re excited to be here in a room full of political activists. You can feel the energy. After three long years of waiting … it’s time … you bet it’s time. It’s our time and it’s time for Bush to go!

We want to thank you for all you do in the political and legislative arenas.

It is because of your hard work that our union is fighting on the frontlines for candidates and programs that stand up for America’s working families.

You are the ones who make the difference in our local and state elections –- and you are the ones who will make a difference on November 2 when we send George Bush back to his ranch.

Whether it’s fine-tuning or enhancing the Worker-to-Worker program at your worksite, gathering e-mail addresses, distributing leaflets, interviewing and endorsing candidates, conducting V-CAP drives or being involved in e-mail or letter writing campaigns -- all of you have done a tremendous job in keeping the UAW on the offensive in our communities’ political and legislative battles.

You, and thousands of our brothers and sisters at home, are on the frontline defending our positions, energizing our members to be involved and to have an understanding of the issues, registering our members and others and then encouraging them to vote.

This is a tough, challenging assignment and we appreciate all that you do.

It is our hope that this conference will assist you and arm you with the additional information you need to make you as effective as possible.

As you heard last night, once again this year, we will be joining with trade unionists from 11 other industrial unions on Tuesday for the Industrial Union Council Legislative Conference. Together, we will go to the Hill to talk face-to-face with our representatives to let them know:

Manufacturing matters;
Workers’ rights matter;
Health care matters;
Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security matter;
Fair trade matters;
Overtime pay matters.
And, on November 2 when we’re in the voting booth, these issues and others that impact workers, senior citizens and children will determine how we cast our ballot.

Now, we know this will be a tough election and we know that the Republican war chest will be overflowing with about $200 million. And, as the Republican National Committee has said, they are prepared to do “whatever it takes to win.”

Well, we’ve got news for them -- they will outspend us, but they won’t outwork us.

As you know, our International Union decided not to make a recommendation during the Democratic primary process.

We’re listening to our membership. What they think is important, and we believe that no recommendation was a wise decision.

Meanwhile, as the field of Democratic candidates is changing, we are determined to stay focused on the general election and keep our eyes on the ultimate goal: “re-defeating” George W. Bush.

We believe that America is strong when working families are strong. When our unions are strong. When our communities are strong.

But, instead of playing to our strengths, George Bush is following a game plan that makes our country weaker. If you do not include those who have given up on looking for work, the unemployment rate stands at 5.7 percent -- that’s 8.4 million workers who are unemployed.

Since George W. Bush was appointed to office, nearly 3 million Americans have lost their jobs and 2.7 million of them are in manufacturing. It is projected that each year the U.S. will see 200,000 white collar jobs shipped overseas, probably never to return.

Barring an economic miracle, at the end of 2004 Bush will be the first president since Herbert Hoover to finish a term of office with fewer jobs than when he started. And, just like Herbert Hoover, this president deserves to be a one-term president.

This is a president who said in his State of the Union speech in January that our economy is bouncing back -- even though his own Labor Department reported that just 1,000 new jobs were created in the month of December. That’s just 20 jobs per state.

One thousand jobs a month! At that rate, it will take 241 years to recover the 2.9 million jobs that have been lost during the Bush administration. That’s not a recovery, that’s a disaster.

Among the many, many examples of this disaster are the 2,500 members of UAW Locals 137 and 1554 who are losing their jobs because Electrolux can make more profit in Mexico than in Greenville, Michigan.

We’re talking about 2,500 UAW families who held up their end of the bargain: They went to work every day, built a quality product, were very productive and even offered concessions.

We’re talking about a community of 8,000 whose tax base will be devastated because of a corporation chasing a lower wage.

We’re talking about a trade policy that allows corporate greed to come before people’s needs.

The trade numbers for 2003 aren’t in yet, but indications are that the U.S. trade deficit will surpass the staggering $418 billion trade deficit in goods and services in 2002.

And, the U.S. trade deficit with China will most likely climb much higher than the $103.1 billion in 2002.

So, let’s talk about China. Here’s a country that has a population four times larger than the U.S. and has more workers unemployed than the U.S. has working.

The average wages in China are estimated to be between 18 and 60 cents per hour.

In addition to low wages, China imprisons more trade union activists than any country in the world. And, at the same time, China is the number one destination in the world for foreign investment.

That’s wrong.

Yet, Bush refuses to challenge China on its human rights record or on its illegal manipulation of currency, putting U.S. manufacturers at a disadvantage of up to 40 percent.

And, something else is happening in China.

Think about this …. Since 2001, 500 maquiladoras have closed resulting in the loss of 218,000 jobs in Mexico. It’s quite ironic that many of the new manufacturing jobs in China are coming from those closed plants in Mexico.

The 750,000 jobs the U.S. lost because of NAFTA are being shifted from Mexico to China and other lower wage countries.

Of course, Bush thinks NAFTA is such a good deal, he’s pushing the Central American Free Trade Agreement and the Free Trade Area of the Americas, which will expand NAFTA provisions to 34 countries.

And, Bush has pledged to use his “fast track” authority to get these trade deals passed.

Now, this administration is also pushing the U.S.-Thailand Free Trade Agreement, which could undermine the pickup truck industry -- and the UAW members who build those trucks.

None of these trade pacts -- not NAFTA, not CAFTA, not FTAA -- include provisions for labor rights or environmental protections.

This means that American jobs will be “fast tracked” to these countries as corporations continue their race for the cheapest wage. It’s a race to the bottom that no workers -– in any country -- can win.

Nor can the American worker win the battle for affordable and accessible health care under this president.

The number of Americans without health insurance has grown by 2 million since George Bush took office. Over 15 percent of the population -- 43.6 million Americans -- have no health insurance. And, 9 million of them are children.

George Bush did say in a speech a year ago: “Those who need health care will have health care.” But, he was talking about the people of Iraq.

Bush has no plan, no policy, no program to address this crisis in America.

Those who don’t have insurance are only part of the story. Last year, 65 percent of employers shifted health insurance increases onto the backs of workers.

We know that cost-shifting doesn’t work; it does nothing to improve the quality of care, nor does it control costs. That’s why we made it very clear to the auto companies that it was unacceptable to shift costs onto the backs of autoworkers.

And, because of the support of our active and retired members and the leadership of Vice Presidents Bantom, Gooden and Shoemaker, it did not happen. It did not happen! As a nation, we need to expand our health care system to include all workers and all employers.

For decades, the UAW has advocated a comprehensive, universal, single-payer, national health care plan that covers every man, woman and child in the United States, and we will continue to do so because it is the right thing to do.

Now, let’s look at this administration’s record on workers’ rights.

He cancelled the ergonomics program, which would have protected tens of millions of American workers. And, Bush has stopped action on 30 other safety initiatives.

This administration cancelled the monthly report on mass layoffs and plant closings -- saying the numbers weren’t a priority.

He’s gutting overtime pay, which will take tens of millions of dollars from workers’ paychecks. His Labor Department even went so far as to give employers tips on how to avoid paying overtime under their new rules.

This administration supports a phony “comp time” measure which would cut into the paychecks of American workers.

In addition, his Labor Department enacted new reporting rules for unions that will be both costly and time-consuming.

He’s attacked the right of workers to join unions -- and is aggressively privatizing federal jobs and undercutting unions that represent federal employees.

Bush denied extending unemployment benefits to over a million workers during the holiday season.

And, he has denied additional unemployment benefits to millions of workers who have exhausted their extended benefits and still can’t find work.

We cannot forget that Bush took a $2,690,000,000 budget surplus in January 2001 and turned it into a record budget deficit that is projected to reach over $500 billion by November’s election.

This huge deficit is bad news for our children and our grandchildren. Bush is mortgaging their future.

In addition, our states face a cumulative $200 billion in budget deficits with budget cuts targeting the elderly, the poor, the disabled.

Additionally, Bush’s tax cuts benefit the wealthiest 10 percent, but that’s not enough for this administration. Now he wants to expand tax breaks to foreign operations of multinational corporations. In other words, a company that shifts our jobs to Mexico or China could get an added tax break. While supporting these tax cuts for the rich, Bush continues to refuse to raise the minimum wage for working Americans.

This administration lifted tariffs on steel, leaving steelworkers vulnerable to more mills closing, more layoffs.

This is a president who can lay a wreath on the grave of Martin Luther King, Jr. one day -- and the next day, use a recess appointment to put a segregationist judge named Charles Pickering on the federal bench.

Bush has made it clear that he will continue to push for privatization of Social Security. He would turn over the security of our seniors to the insecurity of Wall Street.

Think about it: He wants to dismantle the most successful social insurance program in the history of this country. That cannot happen. It must not happen. And, we will not let it happen.

Bush’s private solutions for public problems will lead to a privileged few enjoying decent retirement and health care benefits, while others survive on meager pensions and substandard health care.

This is a president who announces a program to make it easier for polluters to foul our air -- and then has the audacity to call it the “Clear Skies Initiative.”

And, for all who enjoy the outdoors, it’s alarming that Bush has twisted the provisions of the Clean Water Act to serve the needs of industry instead of our environment.

As you saw in the video last night, this is a president who promised “No Child Left Behind” -- who left behind $8 billion in federal funds needed to improve our nation’s schools.

This is a president who, while he is putting on a flight suit, pretends to honor our men and women in uniform -- while cutting over a billion dollars for military housing and medical facilities. Not only that, his administration has cut off health care benefits to more than 164,000 veterans. It’s a disgrace how this administration has treated our veterans.

And, it’s a disgrace when private companies -- like Haliburton -- with strong connections to the White House -- unfairly benefit from rich contracts while uniformed American brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, men and women are dying in Iraq.

While Haliburton is headed to the bank, where’s the funding for the firefighters and the first responders in our towns and cities?

That’s not our America. America deserves better.

We in the labor movement can lead the way because our movement has a vision for a better America. Our movement is a movement that stands for hope. For opportunity. For optimism about our country and our future.

Our movement is a movement that stands for inclusion, not exclusion. For tolerance, not taunting. For diversity, not division.

Now, let’s be clear. This is an absolutely crucial election.

Keep in mind that just 537 votes in Florida -- and one vote on the Supreme Court -- made the difference on who is in the White House.

In your state -- the margin between a candidate who stands up for working families and his or her opponent might be just a few hundred votes.

Forget the pundits. Forget the pollsters. Forget the conventional wisdom that says it’s money, not people, that wins elections these days.

Working Americans and our families have the power of the voting booth on Election Day, but we only have the power if we use it.

America needs her unions to fight for an America that represents the interests of all of us, not just some of us.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in his second inaugural address: “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

Now, 70 years later, we know that America can do better. We must do better. America needs her unions to continue to fight for social and economic justice for all Americans.

And, on November 2, America needs her unions to have made a difference in electing a president that stands with working families in the fight for good jobs, affordable health care and workers’ rights.

Working together, we can “re-defeat” George W. Bush.

Let us be confident that what we do in these next months will bring a better tomorrow, not just for our generation, but for the children and grandchildren of future generations.

We have the power. Let’s use it!

Solidarity, solidarity, solidarity forever.