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Democratic Contenders Blast Bush, Salute Labor
Five of the candidates running for the Democratic nomination for president made one thing perfectly clear at the 65th annual CWA Convention this week: There couldn't be a sharper contrast between the Bush administration and politicians who respect and value workers and the labor movement.
Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, in that order, each made a pitch for their candidacy at the Chicago convention. All nine Democrats who are officially running for president were invited to speak as was President Bush.
The candidates' views on union organizing, workers' rights and the damage the Bush administration has done to the economy got rousing applause, sometimes even standing ovations.
"We have seen an administration that is as hostile to middle class working families and labor unions as any administration that has ever served in the White House," Gephardt said.
If elected, he pledged that, "We will have card check and neutrality so you can get an election without intimidation. We will have first contract arbitration so we don't wind up with five years in the legal system until you can finally get to a first contract. And we will have triple back pay for the unlawful dismissal of union organizers. You need to be on a level playing field."
Kucinich pledged to end the North American Free Trade Agreement "and return to bilateral trade conditioned on workers' rights, human rights and the environment."
"You know what NAFTA has meant," he said. "NAFTA has taken us back to the days when corporations had enormous power, when they could threaten to move if you don't come to terms. I've been to too many places around the country seeing grass growing in parking lots where they used to make steel, cars, bicycles, machine parts... NAFTA has contributed to a destructive undermining of our economy."
Kerry told the delegates that workers "deserve a president who spends his time fighting to give Americans a living wage, not destroying overtime in the United States," referring to the administration's latest assault on workers.
He spoke of hearing stories firsthand from workers who were harassed or fired when they tried to unionize, and said he'd guarantee the right to cardcheck organizing. "I want to make it clear that we deserve a president that will appoint people to the NLRB who respect labor law, appoint a labor secretary who comes out of labor and who will put someone in positions of power to enforce the organizing rules of our country," he said.
Dean, too, promised cardcheck and pledged a ban on captive meetings and a 90-day limit for the NLRB to hear appeals "so they can't drag out things forever once you have won your cardcheck."
He said he'd balance the budget and repeal the Bush tax cuts if elected, emphasizing how they've hurt the middle class as much as the poor. "We're talking about middle class people who are seeing class sizes in public schools get bigger and bigger, middle class people who can't send their kids to college because the government cut Pell grants," he said. "Let's think about what has happened to your taxes since the tax cut. Maybe some of you got a check for $600. Maybe you got a check for $400. Maybe both. How much has college tuition gone up? How much have your property taxes gone up?"
Lieberman said Bush economic policies are a "sharp stone in our shoe" that must be removed before health care costs, college tuition and other middle class expenses grow any more out of control. Saying that Bush is living in the "economic dark ages," he called for a "more innovative and less ideological approach" to reverse the country's decline.
He blasted the way the administration has treated unions as the enemy, saying, "In my opinion, unions are the great ally of government in helping do what the Declaration of Independence intended - to secure life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
All the candidates pledged their support for Verizon workers in the continued effort to negotiate a settlement that includes a fair contract for 52 Verizon Wireless workers in New York, and called on CEO Ivan Seidenberg to bargain in good faith.
Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, in that order, each made a pitch for their candidacy at the Chicago convention. All nine Democrats who are officially running for president were invited to speak as was President Bush.
The candidates' views on union organizing, workers' rights and the damage the Bush administration has done to the economy got rousing applause, sometimes even standing ovations.
"We have seen an administration that is as hostile to middle class working families and labor unions as any administration that has ever served in the White House," Gephardt said.
If elected, he pledged that, "We will have card check and neutrality so you can get an election without intimidation. We will have first contract arbitration so we don't wind up with five years in the legal system until you can finally get to a first contract. And we will have triple back pay for the unlawful dismissal of union organizers. You need to be on a level playing field."
Kucinich pledged to end the North American Free Trade Agreement "and return to bilateral trade conditioned on workers' rights, human rights and the environment."
"You know what NAFTA has meant," he said. "NAFTA has taken us back to the days when corporations had enormous power, when they could threaten to move if you don't come to terms. I've been to too many places around the country seeing grass growing in parking lots where they used to make steel, cars, bicycles, machine parts... NAFTA has contributed to a destructive undermining of our economy."
Kerry told the delegates that workers "deserve a president who spends his time fighting to give Americans a living wage, not destroying overtime in the United States," referring to the administration's latest assault on workers.
He spoke of hearing stories firsthand from workers who were harassed or fired when they tried to unionize, and said he'd guarantee the right to cardcheck organizing. "I want to make it clear that we deserve a president that will appoint people to the NLRB who respect labor law, appoint a labor secretary who comes out of labor and who will put someone in positions of power to enforce the organizing rules of our country," he said.
Dean, too, promised cardcheck and pledged a ban on captive meetings and a 90-day limit for the NLRB to hear appeals "so they can't drag out things forever once you have won your cardcheck."
He said he'd balance the budget and repeal the Bush tax cuts if elected, emphasizing how they've hurt the middle class as much as the poor. "We're talking about middle class people who are seeing class sizes in public schools get bigger and bigger, middle class people who can't send their kids to college because the government cut Pell grants," he said. "Let's think about what has happened to your taxes since the tax cut. Maybe some of you got a check for $600. Maybe you got a check for $400. Maybe both. How much has college tuition gone up? How much have your property taxes gone up?"
Lieberman said Bush economic policies are a "sharp stone in our shoe" that must be removed before health care costs, college tuition and other middle class expenses grow any more out of control. Saying that Bush is living in the "economic dark ages," he called for a "more innovative and less ideological approach" to reverse the country's decline.
He blasted the way the administration has treated unions as the enemy, saying, "In my opinion, unions are the great ally of government in helping do what the Declaration of Independence intended - to secure life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
All the candidates pledged their support for Verizon workers in the continued effort to negotiate a settlement that includes a fair contract for 52 Verizon Wireless workers in New York, and called on CEO Ivan Seidenberg to bargain in good faith.