UAW International CAP Conference 2006
By UAW Local 2195 Webmaster John Davis

The 2006 UAW Community Action Program (CAP) Conference kicked off at 5:00PM on Sunday, February 05, 2006 at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington D.C. Over 14000 delegates from local unions all across the country have converged in Washington for an update on the UAW’s legislative priorities for 2006 and carry our message about the plight of the American worker to Capital Hill and our elected representatives.
National CAP Chair Dick Long opened the conference with a welcome from the International Executive Board. The invocation for the evening was offered by Civil Rights Department Director Larry Smith.

Since there was no CAP Conference in 2005, the V-CAP award for both 2004 and 2005 was given. Jim Wells of Region 5 accepted the award for both years, as Region 5 has led the UAW for a number of years in V-CAP check off.

Following opening comments, Dick Long introduced International UAW President Ron Gettelfinger to give his opening address. The following remarks are paraphrased from his speech.

President Ron Gettelfinger’s opening address.

“It is good to see so many delegates here from local unions across the country. Over the next three days you will be receiving a great deal of information on issues that are key to working American families this year. With this being an election year, the significance of this conference is even greater. We must elect candidates that are interested in the issues of America’s working families.

We need candidates that are interested in fair trade – not free trade. In the past five years over 3,000,000 manufacturing jobs have left this country. Now, we are seeing an onslaught of technical and white collar jobs leaving as well.

We have got to find ways to reach out to those who don’t agree with us and those who have given up on the legislative process. The stakes are much too high when government can take away what was won through years of collective bargaining with the stroke of a pen. The stakes are too high when there are governors taking away the bargaining rights of state employees. The stakes are too high when legacy cost and unions are being blamed for the struggles at American auto companies. These workers are the ones who have built the vehicles and built an economy where CEO’s are millionaires and companies have made billions. Now, they want to blame their struggles on legacy cost – human cost for the poor decisions they have made. I can tell you today that the UAW will fight for the pensions you have earned and will fight for the benefits you have earned.

Our fight will be at the bargaining table, on the picket line and in the courts of this land. America is still a great nation with more positives than negatives. But – we must address our issues to keep the American Dream alive. The UAW is proud of our American Service men and women and the sacrifice they are making for their country. We also mourn with those 2200 families who have paid the ultimate price through the loss of their loved one.

For nine years the minimum wage has remained the same as Congress has voted themselves raises every year. While workers on the bottom of the scale have seen no increases in pay, Congress has passed tax breaks for America’s richest citizens. We watched in horror as the victims of hurricane Katrina and Rita were drowned, maimed and left in ruin as our government sat by with indifference and incompetence. This country watched as nursing home patients drowned, thousands huddled at the Superdome waiting on help and the streets of New Orleans were strewn with the bodies of the unfortunate ones who couldn’t afford a bus ticket out of town. Why is it we can build hospitals and schools in Iraq but we can’t deliver mobile homes to the homeless along the Gulf Coast?

How can we forget the tragedies that occurred in West Virginia during the month of January alone? There were sixteen families who lost loved ones working in unsafe conditions in mines hundreds of feet below the ground. That is why we honor Worker Memorial Day and remember those killed on the job. In 2005, there were 6,000 workers in this country who didn’t make it home to their families at the end of the work day. Six of those were UAW members and we mourn with those families. We can never forget that safety is the top priority each and every day.

Last year we won victories in the courts as several bankrupt companies tried to get out of there pension liabilities. There were also a number of organizing victories, particularly in the south. Workers at Thomas Bus and Freightliner won the right for representation and negotiated contracts for their members. Organized labor fought the administration and won a victory on protecting Social Security from privatization. With your help we prevented the freezing of pensions plans and protected what our members have won at the bargaining table.

The White House had ups and downs last year. The ups included higher unemployment, rising prescription drug cost, soaring CEO pay and gas prices skyrocketing. The downs included the ranks of union memberships, pension plans, Big Three sales and hope for America’s working class families. Yes, the ups and downs were both negatives for working families.

We can not sugar coat what we are facing as a nation. If we don’t stand up, then who will? If we don’t speak out, then who will? If we don’t take action, then who will?
Our priorities for 2006 are plain. We oppose any trade deal that removes the current 25% import tariffs on vehicles from Thailand. We oppose any legislation that limits or prevents a worker’s rights from joining a union. We support legislation that will help the American Automotive companies compete and retain market share. We strongly support the extension of the voting rights act of 1965. We oppose any budget proposal that cuts more and more social programs will doling out tax cuts to millionaires.

The past 18 months has been perhaps the most difficult in the 70 year history of the UAW. Recent changes to retiree benefits have been very painful for us all. The easy thing would have been doing nothing at all, but we made the changes we felt necessary to protect the pension plans and benefits of our current and future retirees. But I tell you tonight, America’s health care crisis can not be resolved at the bargaining table. It can not be resolved by employers passing cost on to employees. It can not be resolved by dropping coverage to workers. As a nation we spend more on health care than any other country on the face of the Earth. How can it be then that over 46,000,000 Americans have no health coverage at all? How can it be that out of all the industrialized nations we rank toward the bottom on availability of health care? Why can’t we have a single payer system that guarantees health care coverage to all Americans? Health care can not be a privilege for the rich; it should be a right for all.

We don’t agree with restructuring plans at GM and Ford. The UAW has told them repeatedly they can’t simply downsize their way of this problem. At Delphi we have stood together with our brothers and sisters from the other unions that represent the workers. In January we won an "ex-officio" membership on the creditors committee so we can have a larger say in what happens there. However, at fight is not at Delphi alone, for we will continue to represent our membership at Tower Automotive, Collins & Aikman and Intermet and Meridian Automotive Systems and the other companies who are trying to balance their books on the backs of the workers.

The automotive industry has allowed millions of American families to move into the racks of the middle class and this allowed them to not simply provide more things for their children but more opportunity. There are those you say to “just take the low road and bring America’s worker’s wages down to the level of these countries where jobs have been moved. However, we are taking the high road by fighting for America’s working families.

The challenges we face are large and the struggles great. But, our history teaches us that we must stand and fight. We will fight corporate greed, we will fight for the rights of our workers, we will fight for our pensions, and we will fight for our health care. We will fight for our future and the future of our children. This isn’t a fight one person can do alone. It will take each of us standing together to make a difference. Solidarity, solidarity, solidarity will see us through.”

The conference will reconvene at 8:45AM on Monday, February 06, 2006. The agenda for day 2 of the conference includes:
- Update from the UAW Legislative Department
- Media Panel
- Regional Meetings
- National Voting Rights Chair Donna Brazile
- Economy and Taxes Panel Discussion
- Civil Rights Panel Discussion
- Delphi Update from International Vice President Richard Shoemaker

Check the UAW Region 8 website tomorrow night for another update from conference activities.