michael h. bolton, director - united steelworkersimages.usw.org/d2/2015february.pdfmichael h....
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is published by the
United Steelworkers District 2 AFL-CIO·CLC
MICHAEL BOLTON, Director 1244A Midway Rd., Menasha, WI 54952
(920) 722-7630
Contributors to this issue include:
Jay McMurran, Tammy Duncan, Lori Gutekunst,
Denny Lauer, Steve Doherty, Tonya DeVore, Mike Polkki
Articles and photos are welcome and should be sent to:
Art Kroll, Editor, District 2 News 20600 Eureka Road, Suite 300, Taylor, MI 48180
[email protected] • 734-285-0367
March 15, 2015, is the deadline for
submissions for the next issue.
They should be embarrassed because it shows once and for all that our Republican Representatives are no longer running our governments. Their deep-pocketed donors are calling the shots and are now running the show. These representatives are not acting on their convictions. They don’t believe that Right to Work will lead to a brighter future for our state.
They are doing it because the Koch Brothers told them to!
The Koch boys spent 240 million dollars during the 2014 elections and they have pledges to spend nearly 900 million dollars next year. How much money is that? There are 109 of us attending this conference. To equal that amount, each of us would have to contribute $8,155,963. If we all made $65,000 per year, we would only have to work 125 years to earn that much. And, if you wanted to go it alone and donate the whole $889 million yourself, you would have to work 13,677 years.
Does anyone here think that kind of money comes without strings? Well it does, it comes with enough string to make each and every one of them a Koch Brothers’ puppet. The Koch brothers know that Right to Work does nothing for states that pass it. It is an attempt to weaken Unions -- weaker Unions mean more power and profits for them and their rich cronies.
I said that Right to Work does nothing for the states that have passed it so let’s look at the facts. Of the ten richest states in America, only one is a Right to Work state. While of the ten poorest states, eight out of ten are Right to Work.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, workers in Right to Work states earn $1,500 per year less than workers in closed shop states doing similar work. The National AFL-CIO puts that figure closer to $5,000 per year less. You choose the figure you want to use. Either way, workers are hurt by Right to Work. More people in Right to Work states earn below poverty level wages and they are more likely to file for bankruptcy.
Right to Work states spend less per pupil on education. And, more people in Right to Work states are without pension and employer sponsored health care benefits. So, if Right to Work is bad for the state, why is the right fighting so hard to pass it?
They can’t support their arguments with the facts so they say Union Security agreements violate a worker’s Constitutional Rights. That’s one of their favorite tactics. When all else fails, wrap yourself in a flag and wave the Constitution.
Their first argument is it’s a matter of choice. All of a sudden the Republicans are “Pro-Choice.” They argue workers should have the freedom to choose to belong to a Union or not. They say no one should be forced to join a Union.
The fact is no one can be forced to join a Union. Federal law already prohibits compulsory Union membership. However, federal law does require anyone benefiting from a contract and Union representation to pay the costs of those benefits.
(Continued on page 2)
MICHAEL H. BOLTON, DIRECTOR
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 • VOLUME 5, ISSUE 2 • PAGE 1
The following is a speech that was given to the delegates to the 2015 Wisconsin Legislative Conference in Madison, WI, on Tuesday, February 24, 2015, during the 3-day conference.
Sisters and Brothers:
It was just 4 years ago that we rallied across the street to try to stop another Scott Walker power grab.
At that time, Walker was trying to push legislators to gut collective bargaining rights for thousands of public employees. Then, just like now, he was pushing an agenda that nobody was asking for. I don’t know one person who ever said, “Mr. Walker, please pass a bill to try and destroy public employee Unions.”
I don’t know of any working class people asking him to push Right to Work. In fact, I would guess the majority of voters don’t even know what Right to Work means.
I do know from polling by the AFL-CIO that, when it is explained to voters, a majority of them do not support it. And, they certainly don’t support it being shoved down their throats by what can only be called an abuse of power.
Four years ago, people at the Capitol were chanting, “This is what democracy looks like.” I get that the chant means that people protesting the actions of their government is democracy in action. What was, and what is, happening inside the Capitol building is not how our democracy was designed to work; and, it sure as hell is not how it is supposed to look like.
In a democracy, citizens elect representatives who are supposed to act on the people’s behalf and in the best interest of the state. Right to Work is not in the best interest of our state or its people. But because a majority of the Senate and Assembly Labor Committees members want to ram Right to Work down our throats, they have called an Extraordinary Session. That means they can now try to make this unpopular and unwanted bill our state law with no public input and only limited debate.
Think about that.
They are about to pass legislation that will directly impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and deny them the opportunity to express their opinion of the law. An Extraordinary Session to pass Right to Work? Shouldn’t they do that to pass a law to create new, good paying jobs in this state?
But instead they called it to silence the people on a bill they know will do nothing to benefit our State, and in all likelihood end up harming it. As former Republican Senate Majority Leader, Dale Schultz, said on the Think Progress website, “It’s a cowardly move to make certain the public can’t be heard on this issue.”
Sure they are cowards, but they should also be embarrassed.
USW District 2 USW District 2 USW District 2 Council Steering CommitteeCouncil Steering CommitteeCouncil Steering Committee
The District 2 Council By-Laws established a District 2 Council Steering Committee comprised of a rank and file structure. It was set up to assist in the following:
Development of agenda for Council Conference.
● Planning of the District Council Conference Educational Conferences.
● District 2 strategic planning.
● Determining and assessing educational needs within the District.
Generating and leading activism and other purposes consistent with the mission and directives of District 2 and the USW.
The elected members of the Steering Committee are listed below by manufacturing sector. If you need to contact a Steering Committee Member, please do so by using the email provided.
NameNameName LU#LU#LU# SectorSectorSector Email AddressEmail AddressEmail Address
Hawley Warren 1299 Steel and
Related [email protected]
Dennis DeMeyer Jr. 2-15 Paper [email protected]
Kevin Bishop 1533 Amalgamated [email protected]
Jesse Edwards 2-232 Automotive
Related [email protected]
Kent Holsing 12075 Chemical &
Energy Related [email protected]
Mary Jane Holland 9184 Health Care [email protected]
Mark Lewis 12934 Public [email protected]
Dave Page 1327 At Large [email protected]
Wes White 1327 At Large [email protected]
Jim Whitt 2-145 Allied Industrial [email protected]
DISTRICT 2 CONTACT IDISTRICT 2 CONTACT IDISTRICT 2 CONTACT INFORMATIONNFORMATIONNFORMATION
USW District 2 Office 1244A Midway Road Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 722-7630
Northern WI & MI Sub-District Office
1244A Midway Road Menasha, WI 54952 (920) 722-7630
Southern WI Sub-District Office 1126 South 70th Street Suite N509A West Allis, WI 53214 (414) 475-4560
Northern MI Sub-District Office
503 North Euclid Avenue Suite #10 - Euclid Plaza Bay City, MI 48706 (989) 667-0660
Southern MI Sub-District Office 20600 Eureka Road, Suite 300 Taylor, MI 48180 (734) 285-0367
A Message from Director Michael BoltonA Message from Director Michael BoltonA Message from Director Michael Bolton
is published by the
United Steelworkers District 2
AFL-CIO·CLC MICHAEL BOLTON, Director 1244A Midway Rd., Menasha, WI 54952
(920) 722-7630
Have you been to District 2’s
Page on Facebook?
www.facebook.com/USWDistrict2
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 • VOLUME 5, ISSUE 2 • PAGE 2
Did you know?Did you know?Did you know? A Message from Director Michael Bolton — continued
When they lose that argument, they’ll come back with, “The Union spends money on things its members don’t support. No one should have to give money to a cause they don’t believe in. ” We agree and that’s why the current law already says they don’t have to.
If being a member in a Union is such a bad thing, why is the Union still required to represent the freeloaders as if they were dues paying members? Why can’t the employer simply pay the non-member what he wants to? If the boss violates a freeloader’s contractual rights, why do we have to file a grievance?
If the freeloader is fired, why are the members who do pay their dues required to pay thousands of dollars to arbitrate their case? So, if Right to Work isn’t about improving our state, bettering the lives of workers, or giving
workers additional rights, what is it really about?
It’s about weakening Unions in an attempt to reduce our power at the negotiating table and our ability to elect worker-friendly politicians and influencing legislation in our state and Washington. They do that by cutting the amount of revenue coming in and by forcing us to spend money on workers that aren’t paying dues.
The Koch Brothers and the Chamber of Commerce know that Unions are the last organized opposition to their corporate greed. Right now, one of the hottest issues in Washington is passing Fast Track, so Congress can pass more bad trade agreements that will send more of our jobs overseas.
Even though we know that these trade agreements are killing the working class, corporations stand to gain billions in profits if Fast Track is passed. Who is fighting them on it? Unions!
Wall Street wants to repeal the Dodd-Frank bill that prohibits banks from gambling with our retirement savings. Investors want to go back to the days that caused our economy to collapse in 2007 and 2008. Who is fighting them? Unions.
Investors, hungry to get their hands on new money, want to privatize Social Security and Insurance companies are pushing for the same with Medicare. Who is fighting them? Unions.
Thanks to strong Unions, Wisconsin was the first state to enact Workers Compensation, Unemployment Insurance, and other important safety nets for workers. Employers would like nothing more than to repeal those laws. And they know the only way to accomplish that is through weaker and less effective Unions.
I am not afraid of Right to Work. I don’t like it, I think it is wrong but I am not afraid of it. I came from Iowa, which is a Right to Work state and we were able to maintain membership at 95%. Right to Work won’t kill the Labor Movement. It will force us to do things differently, but we’re organized labor. We have been down before. We survived then and we’ll survive this time too.
What I am afraid of is a government that has been purchased by special interests. This is supposed to be a nation that is of, for and by the people. Not one that is for sale to the highest bidder. If lawmakers are using this tactic against unions, who’s next? Could it be used to deny our voting rights? Maybe they’ll use it to get your
guns? Or, they could call an extraordinary session to come after our religious freedoms.
If they silence us on this issue, they can silence anyone on any issue. And that is not what democracy looks like.
Brothers and Sisters – Don’t stop believing – we will keep our Union strong – we will educate, agitate, and organize - we are going to help you when this bill becomes law. We will teach you about internal organizing so we maintain our membership and keep our locals strong. Thanks for all you will be doing for our members today and in the future. Brothers and Sisters – get mad – Stand Up and Fight Back – and never ever forget what they did to us and our state - Go Build The Union!
Extremist groups, right-wing politicians and their corporate backers want to weaken the power of workers and their unions through "right to work" laws. Their efforts are a partisan political ploy that undermines the basic rights of workers. By making unions weaker, these laws lower wages and living standards for all workers in the state. In fact, workers in states with these laws earn an average of $5,971 less a year than workers in other states. Because of the higher wages, working families in states without these laws also benefit from healthier tax bases that improve their quality of life.
Lower Wages and Incomes
● The average worker in states with right to work laws makes $5,971 (12.2 percent) less annually than workers in states without right to when all other factors are removed than workers in other states.
● Median household income in states with these laws is $6,568 (11.8 percent) less than in other states ($49,220 vs. $55,788).
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 • VOLUME 5, ISSUE 2 • PAGE 3
LM, 990 and 990-EZ Review for Financial Officers ● March 3, 2015
USW Local 12075 Hall
3510 James Savage Road, Midland, MI
● March 4, 2015 Civic Club
183 Ninth Street, Manistee, M
● March 5, 2015
Teamsters Local 7 Hall
3330 Miller Road, Kalamazoo, MI
● March 6, 2015 USW District 2 Southern Michigan Sub-Office
20600 Eureka Road, Suite 300, Taylor, MI
USW Health, Safety & Environment Conference
● March 8 - 13, 2015
Westin Convention Center & Hotel
1000 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA
District 2 Presidents’ Meetings ● March 17, 2015
USW Local 1299 Hall
11424 W. Jefferson Avenue, River Rouge, MI
● March 18, 2015
USW Local 12075 Hall
3510 James Savage Road, Midland, MI
● March 19, 2015 Teamsters Local 7 Hall
3330 Miller Road, Kalamazoo, MI
● March 24, 2015 USW Local 2-21 Hall
1201 Sheridan Road, Escanaba, MI
● March 25, 2015 Fraternal Order of Eagles
1104 S. Oak Avenue, Marshfield, WI
● March 26, 2015 Lucky Dogz Labor Temple
157 S. Green Bay Road, Neenah, WI
● March 27, 2015
Milwaukee Area Labor Council
6330 S. Hawley Road, Milwaukee, WI
WOS Quarterly Meetings (Wisconsin) ● March 27, 2015
Kronenwetter Village Hall
1582 Kronenwetter Dr., Kronenwetter, WI
● March 31, 2015
USW Local 2-87 Hall
204 M-28 East, Munising, MI
● April 8, 2015
USW Local 2-148 Hall
1201 Gillingham Road, Neenah, WI
● April 10, 2015 Milwaukee Labor Council Building
633 S. Hawley Road, Milwaukee, WI
USW Rapid Response & Legislative Conference
● April 13 - 15, 2015
Washington Hilton 1919 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
Upcoming D2 Events Upcoming D2 Events Upcoming D2 Events
Despite all odds, the members at Local 8287 employed by the Kalkaska County Road Commission in Kalkaska, Michigan, had their ULP’s heard before a Michigan Administrative Law Judge.
The 16-member Local has been in a three-year battle with the public employer and faced numerous obstacles and challenges all meant to weaken their commitment to remain Union. Starting with the election of Governor Rick Snyder, the state passed a number of laws requiring public employees to pay all financial increases after expiration until a new agreement is reached, pay 20% of medical insurance costs, and a “Right to Work” Law which is intending to weaken Union at the bargaining table.
Then, in 2013, the employer unlawfully imposed concessions on these employees including the state-mandated 20% Employee Contribution for Medical Premiums, a pension contribution of 13% and unlimited use of Temporaries which aided in the erosion of the bargaining unit. The employees reached out to their Staff Representative and the USW Legal and Strategic Campaign Departments for assistance in combating the numerous unfair labor practices. Despite a loss in take home pay of nearly $500.00 per month, these members remained committed to the Union and to each other.
This week, the Local received a decision from the Michigan Employment Relations Commission which ruled that the Road Commission unlawfully implemented terms and conditions of employment and ordered the employer to bargain in good faith and return to the status quo until bargaining is complete. The ruling also ordered the Road Commission to make restitution with interest to all affected employees.
The Local is pleased with this ruling but acknowledges that their day in court would not have been possible without the determination of the USW and of the members of Local 8287.
USW Local 8287 Wins Big ULP Charge
USW D2 WI Legislative Conference
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 • VOLUME 5, ISSUE 2 • PAGE 4
This column will become a monthly article where we encourage you to send us a few paragraphs answering the question “Why Am I Middle Class?”. Because of space, one will be selected monthly and all others saved for future issues. Below, was written by Denny Lauer, Staff Representative & USW D2 Political Coordinator
“Why Am I Middle Class?”
My name is Mike Polkki. I have been a worker trainer for a little over one year and a USW member for
7 1/2 years. I have been a member of my current USW Local 4974 for 5 years. I am a clarifier operator for Cliffs Natural Resources Tilden Mine in Upper Michigan. I got involved in the Union through political action
and rapid response. I enjoy lobbying on behalf of the Union and working for union families’ best interests. In addition to being a worker trainer for District 2, I am also an ERT Coordinator. I live in National Mine,
Michigan, with my wife and two children. I enjoy hunting, fishing, RV camping, working in my garage and
following the Green Bay Packers.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) compared a military battle with the Islamic State terrorist group
(ISIS) to opposing pro-union protesters during his Thursday, February 26, 2015, evening speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC):
“If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world,” Walker said in response to a question about how he would handle groups like ISIS”. — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
UNBELIEVABLE, but True, Quote of the Month!
Your USW District 2 Safety CAT Team’s Members
I have many reasons why I am proud to be middle class. My father and mother both grew up poor. They rose from
poverty and became middle class. They instilled middle class values into me and I have been fortunate to carry these values to my family.
Being middle class has not only put a roof over my family’s heads, but it has put food on my family’s table. It has allowed for
opportunities to take family vacations together and has given my children opportunities to participate in activities while they were
growing up. It has enabled me to provide healthcare for my family and has allowed me to help my children further their education past high school.
I am thankful to be middle class because it gave my wife and I opportunities to attend our kids’ functions while they were
younger since we did not have to work long hours to make ends meet. It will also give me an opportunity to retire with
dignity.
For all these reasons, and too many more to include in this article, I am proud to be middle class.
2015 Wisconsin RTW Rally at State Capitol During the Legislative Conference