In My Opinion: Families Come First

Last year's presidential election supposedly was decided on "family values" issues.

If that's the case, real family values lost. And the fight for our families—and our American family overall—continues, though it is an uphill struggle in the second Bush term with a more right-wing Congress.

I've received quite a few letters and e-mails from members who were among the 29 percent who voted for President Bush and like-minded congressional candidates (according to our post-election polling). A common thread in many of them seems to be a voting decision based on which candidate supports their own view on the wedge issues of gay marriage and abortion, without consideration of the politician's record on other issues.

My response to them is that CWA—regardless of party affiliation—supports candidates who believe in the collective bargaining process, worker rights to form unions and strike without being permanently replaced, job creation instead of outsourcing, and protection of family health and retirement security.

CWA and the labor movement have always been committed to the interest of the broader American community. And here's how we define family values.

• In the richest nation on the planet, millions of children should not go to bed each night hungry, nor should we have more people living below the poverty level than at any time since the Great Depression.
  
  
• In the richest nation on the planet, it is reprehensible that 46 million Americans do not have health insurance, and that mothers and fathers don't permit kids to engage in sports because injuries would wipe them out financially.
  
  
• In the richest nation on the planet, it is wrong for millions of our children to go to school in rundown buildings and in crowded classrooms with dedicated teachers spending their own money to see that kids have pencils and books.
  
  
• In the richest nation on the planet, we shouldn't encourage job destruction through outsourcing with our own government tax policies, while new jobs tend to be lower paying, less permanent, with fewer benefits.

All of us, Republican, Democrat and Independent, should be together in deploring these conditions that face millions of our fellow Americans every day.

While our presidential candidate didn't win, CWA along with the rest of the labor movement mounted the biggest political mobilization in our history. And CWA's Executive Board recently called for maintaining the momentum of that effort and the grassroots activist network that we built in 2004.

We can't just be at our full strength during the political cycles every two or four years - not in today's world. Looming before us are crucial battles over issues that directly affect our jobs, our ability to support our families, safeguard their health care, guarantee our retirement security, and protect the American dream for future generations.

We have a genuine crisis in this country - a health care system that is unraveling. In two more years, the number of people without health insurance is projected to rise to at least 53 million. CWA members and other organized workers fortunate enough to have health coverage now face continued pressure in bargaining to pay more and more of the cost.

Instead of tackling what is truly a life-and-death crisis for some, President Bush has chosen to use his bully pulpit to manufacture a phony crisis as he pushes to privatize Social Security. This is an issue that is all about ideology, not about the well-being of future generations.

The biggest threat to our children and grandchildren is the mountain of debt that the Bush administration is piling up through continued tax breaks for the elite Republican donor classes, compounded by a billion dollars a week to finance the war in Iraq. Never before has America cut taxes while fighting a war.

And the Bush Social Security scheme would require trillions more in government borrowing, causing many economists to worry about an eventual financial collapse. That's some legacy for our kids.

You have probably heard that the AFL-CIO is undergoing a self-examination with a view to restructuring and revitalizing its programs in the face of shrinking union representation in a more hostile atmosphere for unions. CWA will be very much a part of that debate and of the process that will culminate at the federation's convention this July. I'll be reporting more details about this in future columns.

But generally speaking, our view is that whatever changes may be needed, our labor movement must remain just that - a movement. A movement grounded in workplace democracy, energized by grassroots activism, and committed to the betterment of our society at large. That's our greatest strength.

Together, we're the leading force on behalf of American families and the American community.