McEntee: Don't Mess With Us
Pres. Gerald W. McEntee joined other national labor leaders in mid-February in expressing outrage over slanders by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) against America's unions. DeLay made his statements in a fundraising letter distributed by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a group committed to weakening the rights of workers and their unions.
McEntee, in a letter, called DeLay's six-page invective against organized labor "an inflammatory and irresponsible attack on workers filled with distortions, untruths and name calling — the worst that I have read in my 45 years of union membership and service." McEntee went on to demand a formal public apology. He also demanded that DeLay disassociate himself from the organization and instruct the foundation, in writing, not to use his letter.
DeLay accused "Big Labor Bosses" of using "the national emergencies we face today to grab more power." That, he went on to say, "presents a clear-and-present-danger to the security of the United States at home and the safety of our Armed Forces overseas."
After pressure from union-friendly Republican colleagues, DeLay attempted to back away from the odious letter by blaming "sloppy" staff work. But he couldn't avoid responsibility for his signature appearing at the bottom.
"While you have disavowed the letter," McEntee told DeLay, "since you made a pre-recording in which you delivered the same message for phone solicitations, we can only assume you knew something about it." He added: "Our members represent a diverse range of ethnicity, race, religions, group membership and party affiliations. If you want to see the true face of America, go visit a union hall. Better yet, go visit a hospital or school or library or a construction site or a steel mill or a fire station. Everywhere and anywhere you go in America, you will find union members."
Teamsters Pres. James P. Hoffa and Harold Schaitberger, general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, also expressed outrage over DeLay's message.
If the letter truly did not represent DeLay's views, why wouldn't he publicly apologize and stand up for the right of Americans to belong to a union and strive to improve their working conditions?
