Letters
Organize for Victory at Polls
"Taking the Election Results & Forging Ahead" (January/ February) is instructive. According to the article, even though union households represented as much as 30 percent of the voters, we still got our clocks cleaned on Nov. 5. Given union voting patterns, imagine what would have happened if unions represent 20 or 30 percent of the workforce, as we once did, rather than 13 percent, as we now do.
The International is doing its part to grow our numbers and to win on Election Day. Those of us who are not doing enough on the organizing front are not doing everything we need to win elections. Even if we mobilize for Election Day, we're only doing half the job.
We need to organize so there are more members to get to the polls. If we don't, there will be more mourning after future elections. I'm tired of mourning. Let's organize!
— Henry Bayer
Council 31
Executive Director &
International Vice President
Chicago
Speak Out for Peace & Jobs
Former AFSCME organizer Lorraine Ashby and I, together with a former Teamsters steward, have been demonstrating for Peace and Jobs twice a week for the past year — in downtown Chicago and in South Side neighborhoods. We have faxed more than 20,000 signatures to 25 members of Congress, two governors and the Presi-dent. People stand in line to sign our petition for world peace and in opposition to a pre-emptive strike on Iraq.
Scores of members of Local 3486, working in adult probation, have signed our petitions. We take the cause to the streets and to our workplaces!
To get our three songs on these topics, call (773) 374-3695, or write to Peace and Jobs Petitioners, 9837 South Avenue H, Chicago, Ill. 60617.
— Bill Hogan
Local 3486 (Council 31)
Chicago
Go Green
I am suspicious of wealthy, inbred politicians of either party and their close connections with corporations. Political "experience" can often be a drawback, especially at the expense of average workers.
NAFTA is only one example of what can happen when experienced politicians are coupled with corporate CEOs. Politicians of both parties, including ex-President Clinton, a Democrat, supported that agreement. So where are all those good-paying jobs NAFTA was supposed to create for this country? Who made out in the end, corporations or American workers?
It seems to me that, with issue after issue, the only political party that consistently shares the same social philosophy with unions is the Green Party. I think it would be wise for unions to nurture their relations with the Greens. Only their party is actively pushing for a more equal distribution of wealth. Unions could begin their support on a small scale, gain a foothold through local elections, then progressively grow to state and federal levels.
By consistently backing just Democrats, unions face a losing proposition. Proof of this has already been realized through so-called free-trade agreements with Third World countries and corporate welfare.
— Mark Gerasim
Local 1896 (Council 89)
Lancaster, Pa
No More 'Stellas'
The January/ February issue letter relating to the disparity in drug prices between the United States and Canada omitted a major cause: frivolous lawsuits. They have driven up medical expenses, workmen's compensation and insurance rates. The situation is so blatant that a "Stella award" — named in honor of the lady who sued McDonald's because she burned herself with hot coffee — is given annually for the most outrageous suit.
Drug companies or insurance companies or members of the healing arts professions are not responsible. All of us are responsible, because we permit such suits to continue. Canadians hold the plaintiff and plaintiff's attorney fully responsible for the defendant's legal fees when the charges filed are not sustained. Until we do the same, we can expect more frivolous lawsuits and more expensive medical costs and drug charges.
— John P. Ayres
Local 9943, CSEA/AFSCME
Local 1000
Binghamton, N.Y.
Visible at Last
Our thanks and appreciation for your article on home care workers in the September/ October 2002 issue. The coverage sheds light on employees who have been largely invisible to the general public. Your coverage of the Newark, N.J., workers was a powerful reminder of the many methods organizers must employ in reaching workers who do not share a common worksite.
Home care workers are fighting to gain recognition and respect for themselves and their clients. Their success will, in the long run, provide a stable home care industry on which all of us can rely.
— Ken Seaton-Msemaji, President
Fahari Jeffers, Secretary-Treasurer
United Domestic Workers of
America-NUHHCE/AFSCME
San Diego, Calif.
