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   Updated: 03/14/08                                                                                     
  • Welcome to the IAM Lodge 516 Web Site.

     

    "Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.

    ----President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1952----

     

    IAM Celebrates 120 Years

    The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers celebrates its 120th anniversary this week. It was on the evening of May 5, 1888 that railroad machinist Tom Talbot held a secret meeting with eighteen fellow machinists in a locomotive engine pit in Atlanta, Georgia. That meeting was the foundation of the IAM.

    Unemployment was high in the 1880s and people were still hurting from the ravages of a depression of the 1870s. With 10-hour days, unsafe working conditions and declining wages (journeymen machinists, at $2.00 an hour, were earning about half as much as twenty years earlier), the need for workers to unite and organize was never greater.

    First named the Order of United Machinists and Mechanical Engineers of America, Tom Talbot became the union’s first president. With the help of “Boomers,” Machinists organizers who traveled by rail, membership grew to 4,000 in just two years.

     

    Supreme Court Rules on Voter Photos

    Taking sides in a dispute over a problem that many say does not exist, the U.S. Supreme Court this week ruled 6 to 3 that states may require voters to present photo identification to prevent fraud. The ruling threatens to disenfranchise millions of voters including the poor, elderly, disabled and urban dwellers who are least likely to have the appropriate photo ID.

    The ruling follows an appeal of an Indiana law requiring voters to present specific government-issued identification, such as a drivers license or passport before voting. The Indiana law, considered to be the toughest in the nation, has been called a not-too-thinly veiled attempt to discourage voters who traditionally lean Democratic. The decision was widely hailed by GOP lawmakers who claimed it was needed to protect against voter fraud, despite the absence of evidence that voter fraud is a problem. Civil rights groups were quick to denounce the decision.

    “This is a disgraceful decision by a court that has no credibility on election issues,” said Mary G. Wilson, president of the League of Women Voters of the United States.

     

     

    Airbus Distorts Tanker Job Numbers

     

    Union members in Washington state held a spontaneous protest in the wake of the Air Force decision to award a $40 billion contract for aerial refueling tankers to Airbus/EADS.

    Less than a week after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) launched a review of the controversial $40 billion tanker contract, comes news that Airbus is grossly exaggerating the number of U.S. jobs that would be created.

    As part of a full-court public relations blitz, the Toulouse-based plane maker and European parent company EADS are claiming their tanker, based on the Airbus A330, will create 48,000 jobs in the U.S., nearly double their original estimate.

    In a letter to the editor at the Sacramento Bee, Western Territory GVP Lee Pearson ripped into Airbus for a history of false claims and distortions. “Earlier in the decade, Airbus claimed that it had created 100,000 jobs in the U.S., but a study by the U.S. Under Secretary for Trade, Grant Aldonas, could only find 500,” wrote Pearson in response to an article that cited the bogus Airbus numbers. “Last year, Airbus made the claim that U.S. companies would build half of the A380, yet at the same time the French press reported that production from all of North America would only amount to 21 percent.”

    Even the British, who will be making the wings for the Airbus tanker, have experienced Airbus parent EADS’ outrageous distortions. In 2006, a British government agency banned as untruthful an ad that claimed, “I am British” in reference to the A330 tanker.“Given this history of gross distortions, it strains credibility to believe even the original EADS/Northrop Grumman job creation numbers and claims of 60 percent domestic content, could be true,” said Pearson. “To believe that the EADS/Northrop Grumman European Airbus tanker will create 48,000 American jobs is a fairy tale akin to the notion that NAFTA is a source of good paying U.S. manufacturing jobs.”

     

    GAO to Investigate $40 Billion Tanker Contract

     

    If the Air Force officials who awarded a $40 billion contract to Airbus and EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.) were betting the outrage over the deal would die out quickly, they gambled wrong. A formal protest filed today by the Boeing Co. will be considered by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to determine if the multi-billion contract was properly awarded.

    From Seattle, WA and Wichita, KS to Washington, D.C., elected officials are going ballistic over the Air Force’s decision to outsource an entire fleet of U.S. military aircraft to a consortium that is heavily subsidized by European governments. “This is one of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen,” said Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA), who echoed the sentiments of many lawmakers in the House and Senate who were stunned by the decision to bypass Boeing, a U.S. company that has been supplying the Air Force with refueling tankers for nearly 50 years.

    The controversy gained fresh legs when Air Force officials admitted the impact on American jobs was not one of their criteria for awarding the contract, which could eventually be worth as much as $100 billion. Boeing officials also claim the Air Force changed its criteria after the bidding was underway, further favoring Airbus.

    Leading the charge to give Airbus a leg up on the historic contract was none other than presidential aspirant John McCain (R-AZ), who prodded the Pentagon in 2006 to develop bidding procedures that did not exclude Airbus.

    “Awarding this contract to Boeing would support at least 44,000 U.S. jobs in 40 states,” said IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger. “Instead, billions in U.S. taxpayer dollars will be used to create jobs in Toulouse, France, and give European countries the potential to influence U.S. foreign policy to an unprecedented degree.”

    Click here to view a letter sent by IP Buffenbarger to members of Congress and click here to send a message to your representatives, urging them to overturn this decision.

    February Job Loss Worst in Five Years
     

    The U.S. lost a total of 63,000 jobs last month, the largest decline in jobs in nearly five years. February’s job numbers, released last week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, continues to fuel recession fears and pushes job losses for the year over 80,000.

    With 22,000 jobs lost in January, it also marks the first time since June 2003 that there have been consecutive months of job loss. While the job loss was widespread, manufacturing and construction continue to be hit the hardest, losing 59,000 and 39,000 jobs respectively.

    The unemployment rate, meanwhile, improved to 4.8 percent from 4.9 percent. However, it was a result of the large increase in the number of people that the government says have stopped working or looking for jobs for various reasons. If the 450,000 people who left the labor force in February had been counted among the unemployed, the unemployment rate would have actually been 5.1 percent, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

    The dismal job numbers, combined with the large number of workers dropping out of the workforce, has led to increased calls to extend unemployment benefits.

    “Today’s job losses—the worst in five years—emphasize the urgent need for more effective action,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. “Extending and improving unemployment benefits is the best way to bring immediate help to the millions who are out of work and provide a much-needed jump-start to our economy.”

     

    Machinists Union Blasts Tanker Decision

    Machinists across the country are calling for congressional action following the decision by Air Force officials to award a $40 billion aerial refueling tanker contract to a team led by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS), parent company of Airbus.

    “The Air Force's decision is a serious blow to a key American industry,” said IAM GVP Rich Michalski. “President Bush and his administration have denied real economic stimulus to the American people and chosen instead to create jobs in Toulouse, France.”

    The tanker competition was mandated in 2003, allowing a heavily subsidized European manufacturer, EADS, to bid against Boeing, a U.S. firm that received no subsidies.

    “This decision means billions of taxpayer dollars will be used to create jobs in foreign countries, rather than here in the United States,” said IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger. “Giving this contract to EADS further hollows out America’s industrial base and rewards a company that has already used $100 million in European government subsidies to grab nearly 50 percent of the U.S. commercial aircraft market.”

    The IAM represents nearly 35,000 Boeing employees in Washington state, Oregon, Kansas and locations across the country.

     


     

     

     

    IAM Debuts ‘Training Wheels’ Issue Ad

     

    The IAM is rolling out ‘Training Wheels,’ a brand new issue ad to highlight the alarming lack of skilled training opportunities for America’s next generation of workers. While half a trillion dollars of local, state and federal money are spent each year on higher education, nearly all of it is earmarked for traditional four-year colleges and universities.

    “Between outsourcing, retirements and the absence of new training opportunities, the supply of highly skilled workers in this country is slowing to a trickle,” said IP Tom Buffenbarger. “We need a strong commitment from elected officials at every level to ensure we have the jobs, the workers and the sophisticated training needed to take advantage of tomorrow’s high-tech opportunities.”

    The new ad is the second in a series and part of the IAM initiative called America's Edge, which aims to re-emphasize technical and vocational classes in America’s high schools, expand the availability of industrial technology and information technology courses in America’s community colleges and create High Tech Institutes in each state that focus on 21st century manufacturing technologies and materials.

     

    Bush Denies Millions of Children Health Insurance - Again

    President Bush last week denied millions of children health insurance for the second time by vetoing legislation reauthorizing and expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The bill would have expanded the program by $35 billion over the next five years, providing more than ten million low-income children with health insurance.

    The Democratic-led Senate passed the legislation by a veto-proof margin, but the House fell just short of the two-thirds majority needed. The House will vote on January 23 whether to override the veto.

    Despite broad bi-partisan support, Bush vetoed similar legislation in October. Without reauthorization, however, millions of children are facing a dim outlook. Twenty-one states will run out of money for children’s health insurance in the coming year, according to the Congressional Research Service. Nine of the twenty-one states are expected to exhaust their funds as soon as March, including Alaska, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

     

    Trade Deficit Jumps to $57 Billion
     

    The U.S. trade deficit rose to $57.8 billion in October, up $700 million from September’s $57.1 billion gap, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department. The trade deficit is now up to nearly $587 billion through the first ten months of the year.

    The increasing trade deficit was fueled by rising oil prices as well as a record $25.9 billion trade deficit with China. Despite consumer concerns over the safety of Chinese-made products, there was an increase in imports of Chinese toys, games, sporting goods, home electronics, computers and telecommunications equipment. Further highlighting the U.S.’s flawed trade policy, the trade deficit with Mexico reached a new high of $7.5 billion in October.

     

     

    Wisconsin Workers Win Representation Rights

     

    Members of District 121 organize to win at Spartech Plastics in Portage, WI

     

    District 121 in Beaver Dam, WI, recently secured IAM representation rights for 81 production, inspection, maintenance and warehouse workers who manufacture engineered plastic sheeting and other materials at Spartech Plastics in Portage, WI.

    “The in-plant organizing team was solid in their commitment to win IAM representation, which resulted in a greater than 2 to 1 vote in favor of joining our union,” said Midwest Territory GLR Steve Nickel. “Our members at Spartech want a voice in the workplace, a safe working environment, better wages, benefits and working conditions.”

    Midwest Territory GVP Philip J. Gruber welcomed the new members and thanked everyone involved in the winning effort. “We appreciate the hard work and dedication of GLR Steve Nickel, GLR Bob Anderson, GLR Russ Wittkop, DBR Dan Hilbert, ADBR John Rolbiecki along with Apprentice Organizers Jan DeSmidt and Brian Jarvensivu. We congratulate our new members and welcome them into the IAM family.”
     

     

    Machinists Rally Iowa Union Members for Clinton

     

    IP Buffenbarger addresses union members in Cedar Rapids, IA on the importance of getting out the vote.

     

    Labor leaders from four of the nation’s largest trade unions were joined by former Vice President Walter Mondale and former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack for a full day of campaigning in Iowa on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate New York Senator Hillary Clinton.

    Union members turned out in force for rallies on December 15 in Council Bluffs and Cedar Rapids where IP Tom Buffenbarger delivered a speech urging members to consider a candidate’s seniority among their qualifications to be president.

    “We all know about seniority,” said Buffenbarger, who noted that Sen. Clinton had nearly three times the experience in the Senate than her two closest rivals. “And before entering the Senate, Hillary Clinton did the graveyard shift, swing shift and day shift in the White House. Eight years – 2,920 days – in the most intense work site on earth.”

    Buffenbarger was joined in Iowa by John Flynn, President of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union and Gerald McEntee, President of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.

    Following the rallies in Cedar Rapids and Council Bluffs, the unions provided caucus training to ensure members take part and understand Iowa’s unique caucus system.
     

     

     

     

 

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