Union Watchdog
Native Michiganders fight for job security, pension protection and maybe the future of the union itself.
Flint, Michigan
When Steve Smith and Larry Roehrig were growing up, their hometown of Flint all but guaranteed jobs in the auto shops for anyone who graduated from high school. Then in the 1980s, General Motors started closing its shops and sending the work to non-union plants. Good jobs became scarce.
Across the country, workers like Smith and Roehrig are fighting a war against privatization, outsourcing and downsizing, against cuts in health and safety protections and threats to their pensions. Smith is chair of the legislative, political action and retirement committee for AFSCME Local 5/Michigan State Employees Association. Roehrig is secretary-treasurer for AFSCME Council 25. For these men, holding public officials accountable is another battle in this war-and Flint is at the heart of that battle.
Standing in the midst of the lights and noise of the Genesee County Fair, Smith gestured at the crowds. "These are the people who will make or break this election," he said.
Genesee County, which includes the city of Flint, is in Michigan's 8th Con-gressional District. Volunteers like Smith and Roehrig are raising awareness about where this district's legislators, like U.S. Rep. Dick Chrysler, stand on issues important to working families.
Where does he stand? Chrysler, a Republican House freshman, has a zero percent pro-worker voting record. He is being challenged this November by Democrat Debbie Stabenow, a long-time local elected official.
Smith and Roehrig are helping working families hold Chrysler accountable.
Informed Decisions. Workers don't just want names, though--they want facts. "Our members are tired of being told how to vote," said Roehrig. "They're politically educated. We give them issues, not names. They have to pay attention, make a choice and go out and vote for it."
The issues for the 8th District are not so different than issues for workers everywhere. Smith's list includes maintaining a decent standard of living, job security, pension protections and worker protections.
Roehrig sees a larger threat to workers. "If the Republicans take over [the Michigan Senate and House as well as the governor's office], Michigan will be a right-to-work state. ... You're back to collective begging, not collective bargaining."
Steering Straight. To keep such threats at bay, both Smith and Roehrig are serving on the Labor '96 steering committee for Michigan's 8th District. Along with members from a half-dozen other unions, they have spent this summer and fall debating the issues and mobilizing fellow members.
They've set up education programs for the local leadership, written letters to the editors, and made sure the ads put out by the AFL-CIO on Medicare run on local stations.
Fellow union members have joined the Labor '96 campaign-some for the most basic of reasons. "People are worried about having jobs," said Smith.
Tax cuts sound great, said Roehrig, but they come at a price. "How much are you willing to cut basic services to those who need them? When do you outrun your conscience, your obligation to the community?"
As for Smith and Roehrig's obligation to the community, it won't end in November. Both plan on continuing to fight for working families through their union for years to come.
When asked if he saw the union serving as a watchdog, Roehrig said, "When we send someone to D.C. or Lansing, we better make sure they do what we sent them there to do. ... We follow them to D.C. and say, 'hey, you're not voting right' or if we like what they're doing, we tell people about that. If that's being a watchdog, color us Rottweiler."
By Alison S. Lebwohl
