AFL-CIO Pennsylvania Labor 2008 Blog

Labor Leader of the Week: Rosemary Boland, AFT Local 1147

Rosemary Boland became a member of the Scranton Federation of Teachers forty years ago during her senior year of college.  At her interview she called herself "a fledgling union member assigned the job of signing up new members."  Her first year at a school she signed on as a building manager and throughout her career she remained an active union member.  She was elected president on July 1, 2005.

Recently AFT Local 1147 negotiated two new contracts with the Scranton School Board.  "We have the professional contract and the paraprofessional contract," said President Boland.  "And the teachers ratified their contract at the eleventh hour.  We had actually called for a  strike that was going to take place on September 3rd and at around 11:10pm on September 2nd we reached an agreement with the School Board.  There was no interruption of service and the children were at school and in class on the 3rd."

"The three major issues in this negotiation were healthcare, salary and inclusion.  Our former contract had some poor language in it that said the teachers would absorb all healthcare cost increases and that the school would continue to pay the 1998 rate.  It was a huge issue for us and we had to correct that language to bring the cost of healthcare for our members under control.  Our families were paying $8,100 a year for coverage and the starting salary for a teacher was $30,400.  That meant that after healthcare our new members were only making around $22,000 a year."

"It took us nine months to negotiate this new contract," said President Boland.  "And there was an entire team working on it.  It is a great example of why health care is such a huge issue this year.  If we had universal health care the negotiations for our contract would have been entirely different.  And much smoother sailing for us.  John McCain wants to tax employer paid health care.  I can't even imagine what that additional cost would do to future negotiations on health care and salary.  It would be devastating for our members and their families."

"In addition we have students who don't have health care.  We see families struggling to pay for groceries and you just know they are having to make difficult choices about whether to pay rent or go to the doctor.  Electing a president that understands that difficult position is incredibly important for the future of working families and I know Barack Obama is that candidate."

"This year we have important local elections in addition to the national election.  Congressman Paul Kanjorski and Congressman Chris Carney are two fine men who support working families in this area.  It is critical that we not only elect Barack Obama this year but that we also elect the local candidates that support our issues.

"AFT is very active this election.  We are participating in labor walks, phone banks, and sending out mailings to our members.  I think union members need to be talking to each other because who better understands a union member than another union member?  We walk the same walk and having a common understanding of what it means to be in the union.  So member participation in Labor 2008 is incredibly important this year."

"As a union president I encourage all presidents to get involved and to encourage your members to get involved.  Together, as union members, we can make the difference in this year's election and elect a worker-friendly president in November."

Labor Leader of the Week: Joe Sellers, SMWIA Local 19

Joe Sellers is Business Manager of the Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA) Local 19.  While the main office is located in Philadelphia, SMWIA Local 19 is a local of 4,500 workers that spans much of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and parts of New Jersey.  Local 19 is politically active, regularly hosting labor walks out of their hall and phone banks every evening.

“We have a very active political committee and our local has always made education and political awareness a priority,” said Sellers.  “One example of this is that many years ago it was important enough to our membership to negotiate into our collective bargaining agreement that our only paid holiday is Election Day.  We did that for the sole purpose of getting our members out to work hard for the candidates that support working families and it is a precedent that set a high standard for political awareness for our members ever since.”

“Just last week we had a meeting here with stewards and officers from the local to make sure that they are disseminating information to their members at the workplace,” said Sellers.  “We want to make sure conversations about important issues and where the candidates stand on them are happening between members.”

“The major issues for the upcoming election are healthcare, the economy, and the Employee Free Choice Act, to name a few,” said Sellers. 

“We are a building trades local so the economy is very important to our livelihood.  We need funding to be available for the projects we work on.  Healthcare is a battle every year and with John McCain wanting to put a tax on it like our income is already taxed, that battle is only going to become more difficult.  In addition, the Employee Free Choice Act is very important to Local 19 so that those unrepresented sheet metal workers have a better opportunity to be represented by Local 19 and so that they will be able to better enjoy the fair benefits, the opportunity to enjoy collecting bargaining process and the dignity of a secure retirement that our members enjoy.”

“I think it is clear that Senator Obama is the only choice for working people, not just union members, but all working people,” said Sellers.  “Obama wants comprehensive healthcare, he supports the Employee Free Choice Act and tax cuts for the middle-class.  John McCain voted with Bush over 90% of the time and does not represent the needs of working people at all.”

“This year we have a great opportunity to educate our members and get them involved.  They trust this organization and know that we understand their issues.  We want our members to make their own choice but we also want them to get the right information.  It’s important that they consider the issues carefully, that they close their eyes and listen to what these two candidates are actually saying.”

“McCain does not support the middle-class or working families and Obama makes it explicitly clear that he does.  We are going to be out at the worksite, at union meetings and sending information home to our members to make sure they know that and make the best choice for their future on November 4th.”

Labor Leader of the Week: Bill Sterner, UWUA Local 102

Bill Sterner, President of the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) System Local 102, started out as an apprentice lineman at West Penn Power at the age of eighteen.  He soon became a steward and then a local union officer.  In 1997 he was elected full time president of UWUA System Local 102, a local with almost 1,100 members in four states.

President Sterner said that this election year all of the working family issues are important to his members.  “Our members in the Utility Workers Union all across the country—those working in natural gas, water, and sewage as well as electrical power—are concerned with all the issues that impact all working people.”

“Deregulation is a main issue for us, though.  We personally experienced the terrible consequences of the deregulation of the electrical industry here in Pennsylvania and at our company in 1996.  Under republican control of the House and Senate and under the republican governor Tom Ridge, our industry was deregulated over night.  It resulted in a 40% reduction in our workforce and in our union since 1996.”

“That means that when there is a storm or when there is damage to power lines for any other reason there are 40% fewer people to take care of it today than there were four years ago.  And that also means that there are 40% fewer people to build news lines or maintain the power lines we have now. Deregulation not only cost union jobs, it hurt the community because service suffered as a consequence.” 

“In addition, the Employee Free Choice Act , probably the most important single piece of legislation for labor and the viability of labor that’s come to the table in my life time, has a real chance of getting passed this year.  If we elect a president that supports this legislation it will be signed into law within the year and level the playing field for workers trying to form the unions they deserve.”

“Our union is reaching out in a variety of ways to our membership to make sure that they are aware of these issues and others, and to make sure they know where the candidates stand.  We are working with the Labor 2008 program and encouraging our members to attend labor walks, to get out into the neighborhoods where we live and work, and to educate our members.”

“We are encouraging our members and leaders to lead by example and get out to phone banks and walks. It is important for union members to get involve because when the union speaks directly to its members on issues that directly effect them it translates into a positive outcome as far as how our members vote.”

“In addition, these are working family issues and pocket book issues like the economy, jobs, and wages.  So when union members talk about these them they are talking about the issues that most directly affect them and their families.”

“I strongly encourage and recommend that all members of all unions take this opportunity, this one chance that we have this election year, to participate in the Labor 2008 program by helping the local with worksite leafleting, with phone banking, to walk in the neighborhoods where we live and work. To educate our fellow union members that this election is very important and that we know when we do these things and when union members stick together we vote together and we support candidates and issues that directly benefit not only union members but the community at large.”

Labor Leader of the Week: Ed Yankovich, UMWA International Vice President, District 2

International Vice President of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) District 2 comes from a strong union family.  Both of his grandfathers worked in coalmines and both endured the coal strikes of 1922 and 1933.  His father also worked in a coal mine and was a union member.  So from a young age Vice President Yankovich knew about the struggles of working families and the lessons he learned growing up stuck with him.

Vice President Yankovich went to work in the Robena Coal Mine in 1976 and was a member of UMWA Local 6321. But it wasn’t until the early eighties, while working for the Dilworth Coal Mine, that he really got involved with his union.  The company informed the miners that if they improved productivity and worked harder their jobs would be safe; but despite the miners doing just that, they were laid off for a year.

“I had always believed in the union but that was when I really decided to get involved,” said Vice President Yankovich.  He ran for president of his local and won in 1985.  In 1989 he became President of District 4 and served for six years before there was a restructuring of the districts.  He then went on to serve as international staff when his district merged with District 2 and was an organizer.  He ran for president of District 2 and served as that until there was a restructuring and in 2005 he became International Vice President for District 2, which encompasses the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada. 

“At one point I was a full-time organizer,” said Vice President Yankovich.  “I’ve been involved with organizing for a long time now and I believe that belonging to a union is a civil right that should be provided the highest protections of law.  It should be made available without any kind of hindrance from any forces that might deter collective bargaining.  And that is exactly what the current law does.”

“That is why the Employee Free Choice Act is so important.  If passed the Employee Free Choice Act will take a process that is fraught with intimidation and manipulation on the part of the companies and make it fair.  It will give workers an opportunity for a fair and democratic voice in whether or not they want to form a union.  A union allows workers to protect their social security, their wages, their unemployment compensation and their healthcare and being able to form a union should be an option for all workers.  Under today’s labor laws it is not.”

“So the UMWA is participating in the AFL-CIO’s efforts to collect signatures for the Million Member Mobilization Petition that will be presented to congress in January.  We have done our best to take it out to the worksite, to send it out to our retirees and to really get the message out to all our members about the importance of this legislation.”

“In addition, we are also talking to our members at the worksite and sending local union mail from every local to all our pensioners about the upcoming election.  If we present the facts about where Barack Obama stands with the Employee Free Choice Act.  If we let them know that Barack Obama and Joe Biden support that legislation and are in favor of working men and women’s causes, and that John McCain and Sarah Palin are not, our members will vote the right way.”

“Who we elect to offices of all levels is incredibly important to the every day lives of workers.   Laws give us the authority to ensure workers are compensated when they are injured.  Laws give us the authority demand health care and safe working conditions.  And laws give us the authority to maintain fair wages and a pension.” 

“This work won’t stop when we elect Barack Obama. Quite the opposite, it will just be the beginning of the rebuilding process for the middle class.  It is up to us to make sure that we can do that in November.  The future of the middle class, the future of our unions and our jobs, rests on our ability to elect Barack Obama.  And that is why UMWA locals across the state are working hard and reaching out to their members to make sure we do just that.”

 

Labor Leader of the Week: Marge Krueger, CWA

Marge Krueger is CWA District 13 Administrative Assistant to the Vice President.  While her responsibilities with CWA include contract negotiations and political mobilization, her passion is helping workers form unions.  In her time with the labor movement she has helped thousands of workers form unions. If there is one other goal that might rival organizing in importance, it would be to share her experience with others so that they might go on to empower workers with even more success.

“I really got involved in the labor movement because of the values I learned from my father,” said Krueger.  “He was in the carpenters union and every night he would come home and talk about the importance of his union.  So I come from a very pro-union family and grew up with first hand experience of how my father’s union improved his life and his ability to take care of us.”

“I went to work for the phone company when I was sixteen years old and joined the union.  It was an unaffiliated communications union at the time but I was lucky because I didn’t know what it was to form a union.  I only knew what it was to already be in a union.  But I ended up getting a job as a service clerk in a different part of the company and that made me a part of CWA.”

CWA was trying to get independent unions like the one to which Krueger originally belonged to join CWA. Krueger was assigned to the task of organizing them into CWA.

“After we successfully merged that group into CWA I was made chair of the organizing committee,” said Krueger.  “And that’s when I started to learn a little more of what it means to not have a union.  I always thought that you couldn’t get fired without reason, and that all people had coffee breaks and lunch breaks.  But the more I got involved the more I realized that not everyone has those rights and that you really need a union to secure those rights.”

Recently Krueger has been involved in the successful contract renewal with Verizon and CWA’s ongoing campaign to form a union for workers at Comcast. 

“Verizon is one of our biggest employers in Pennsylvania and Delaware.  We had been in bargaining for months about health care and retirement security and in July we were ready to go on strike.  But we were able to bargain for a good agreement.  We didn’t get everything that we wanted but considering the environment today it is a good contract.” 

“Comcast is a huge company.  One in six homes in America has Comcast and yet only five percent of Comcast workers have a union.  Three of that five percent are right here in Pennsylvania.  We have a unit that is pending right now in Philadelphia and the election is September 11th.”

“Comcast is like the poster child for every thing that is wrong with labor law in this country today and for why the Employee Free Choice Act is so important,” said Krueger.  “Comcast in the past has been so over the top in their intimidation tactics and in their fight to avoid playing by the rules.  We were able to form unions with workers at Comcast in the past only with the help of the AFL-CIO and because the workers really stuck together and stood up to the company.  But still, every day Comcast looks at how it can get around the contract and every day is a fight.”

“So it is very important that members get involved in the political process.  We need legislation like the Employee Free Choice Act in order to sustain the middle class and maintain workers rights on the job.  We are working with our members to make sure they understand the issues and to make sure that they are talking to each other about this election.  For the future of unions in this country and for the future of all working families, we need to elect Barack Obama in the fall and CWA is doing every thing it can to do just that.”

Labor Leader of the Week: Tony Forte, UAW

Tony Forte is the UAW Pennsylvania Community Action Program (CAP) Director.  He became a member of UAW Local 1069 in 1966 and was elected shop steward eight years later.  He soon started to take on more responsibilities and was elected committee man, then vice president and finally president of his local.  In 1996 he was appointed to the position of CAP Director.

UAW has approximately 13,000 active members and twenty thousand retirees in the state of Pennsylvania.  As one of the unions that have been affected by the loss of good paying manufacturing jobs abroad due to unfair trade policies, the UAW is especially concerned with keeping jobs in America and reviving the manufacturing sector.

“Our work, unlike service work for example, is movable,” said Forte.  “It can be done anywhere and so companies will move overseas if they think they can make a little extra profit.  There was a plant in Erie a couple years ago that made sterilization equipment.  But the company decided to move to Mexico.  It’s not that they weren’t making a profit here but that they could make a little more profit by moving to Mexico.  And that’s not good for anyone but the stockholders.”

“We need legislation to keep jobs here--to keep them in America and in Pennsylvania. We need to protect not just the union jobs here in Pennsylvania but the communities as well.  Because it’s not just the workers that suffer when companies move away, it’s the grocery stores, the mom and pop stores, and the restaurants that those workers used to shop at that suffer also.”

Besides keeping jobs here in America, the UAW is also concerned with making sure that workers are free to form unions to protect the wages, pensions, and health care coverage that union jobs provide.  “The Employee Free Choice Act is incredibly important,” said Forte. 

“The rally in Atlantic City in June for the casino workers trying to form a union was all about the Employee Free Choice Act.  If that law was in place now we would have a contract with the casinos by now.  The negotiations between our union and the casinos have dragged on for 13 or 14 months at this point.  If the Employee Free Choice Act were law all the stalling tactics and the intimidation on the part of the company wouldn’t be possible.”

“So we work hard to make sure our members are aware of these issues and where the candidates stand with them.  We send out mailings from the local union and we leaflet the worksites.  I visit the retiree meetings, the local union meetings and the CAP meetings to make sure that information is getting passed along to the members. The member to member contact is important because you learn from your members what is important to them and you can pass directly on to them the information about the candidates that they need.”

“The Labor 2008 program is so important.  The worksite leafleting, the member-to-member contact, and the mailings are the best way to reach our members.  Barack Obama is the best candidate we could ask for this year, I really believe that.  He is the only candidate out there that really understands and is talking about issues important to working families.  And I know that if we get the information out to our members through the Labor 2008 program that we can win this in November.”

Labor Leader of the Week: Don Dunlevy, UTU

Don Dunlevy, Pennsylvania State Legislative Director and Chairman of the United Transportation Union (UTU) started out as a brakeman for the railroad in 1968.  He became General Chairman of his local in the mid-seventies.  But politics are what he is truly interested in, especially because the railroad industry is heavily regulated, both by the federal and state government.  In 1988 he moved to Harrisburg to work full time as a member of the UTU State Legislative Board.  He was elected Chairman and State Legislative Director in 1992.

Members of the Pennsylvania UTU members are bus, train, and trolley operators and on-board crew members throughout the state, mostly in the southern tier.  The UTU represents just under 3,000 active members and the majority of them work with railroads. 

"There was a time when the Congressional District encompassing Altoona had the largest railroad employment in the country," said Dunlevy. "And we still have an exceptionally large number of retirees in that district.  That was because Altoona was a central location on the Pennsylvania Railroad where the vast majority of the railroad's fleet of cars and locomotives were built and maintained.  It was also a large switching yard where trains were made up and dispatched and there were more than one hundred helper crews shoving heavy trains both east and west up over the Allegheny Mountains.  Much of that work has been eliminated or gone elsewhere but there are still many railroaders – particularly retirees – in the district who will be affected by this presidential election." 

John McCain supports the privatization of Amtrak and has voted throughout his career for legislation that would break the Amtrak passenger network into pieces, ostensibly to be sold to private owners and operators across the country.  This would be devastating for all UTU members, including those working in freight service, for a number of reasons. 

"Right now Amtrak has around 19,000 employees," explained Dunlevy.  "If it were to be privatized as proposed by McCain, it would result in the loss of 19,000 union and management jobs.  And not only would those members be out of a job, they would also no longer be paying into the Railroad Retirement System.   Railroad workers have a very good defined benefit pension plan, one that actually predates social security and provides excellent benefits.  But if 19,000 members are suddenly no longer paying into that pension plan, then our current and future retirees' pensions would be in serious trouble."

"I heard over the weekend a great quote about this election that succinctly puts it in proper perspective," said Dunlevy.  "This election is absolutely and unquestionably about color.  But the significant color related to this election isn't black or white.  This election is about green.  It's about money and the earning power of the middle and lower class workers.  It's about the economy and the financial future of working families all around the country.  John McCain's policies hurt members of UTU and workers everywhere.  And they are all pocket book issues"

"It's in the best interest for all of our members and for all of America to elect Barack Obama as our next President of the United States. We have to make sure that all of our members understand that his policies support unions and working families.  The Labor 2008 program is the best way to do that."

Dunlevy will make sure his members know that Barack Obama is the best candidate for their economic future with local union mail, phone banks, and walks.  "The member-to-member contact is what is most important.  I worked for the railroad for twenty years and my members know that I understand our issues.  Union members trust their union and so it is up to the local to make sure that members are educated on the issues that most affect them." 

“When you look at all the major issues and put them together, it is clear that Barack Obama is the complete package.  Let’s make sure our members understand that and elect him for working families and all Americans in November.”

 

Labor Leader of the Week: Dave Fillman, Executive Director of AFSCME Council 13

Dave Fillman is Executive Director of AFSCME Council 13. Over 65,000 public employees and private non-profit employees around the commonwealth have their union with AFSCME Council 13.  Members are employed at the state, county, township, borough, and city level, and in health care and social service facilities.

Fillman started his career with the labor movement in 1972 as a mechanics helper with the Department of Transportation in Montgomery County.  He got more involved with his local, AFSCME Local 2159, after a friend asked him to run for secretary treasurer and he won.  Soon after he became the president.  He was hired on as staff with AFSCME District Council 88 in 1978, became Director of AFSCME District Council 88 in 1993, and became Executive Director in Harrisburg in 2002.

For members of AFSCME Council 13, as for all union members and working families, this year’s election is very important.  “The labor movement has suffered the last eight years under the Bush Administration.  John McCain is just going to continue the George W. Bush policies that have not helped the middle class at all.  We really look forward to working hard to make sure that Barack Obama is the next president of the United States.”

A major concern for AFSCME members, as the majority of them are public employees, is privatization of their jobs.  “There are multiple problems when you privatize,” said Fillman.  “The wages of the employees go down, and health care and pensions are cut back.  The private employer usually starts eroding the benefits that the workers enjoyed as public employees. And whiles sometimes jobs remain union when they go private, more often then not they don’t ”

“We have to keep in mind that the private sector employers are there to make money.  The best way to make money is to start cutting back on things.  And that is not only hard on the employees but also for the people receiving those services.  If you look at public transportation, for example, one way to cut back on costs is to cut back on service and maintenance.”

As mostly public employees, AFSCME members are very engaged in politics.  “We are some of the few union members or working class people who get to vote for our bosses.  If  they  are members of the school board or the Governor of Pennsylvania, our members work for them.  We want to be involved in the election process as much as possible in order to have a voice and to elect people who will help us pass legislation that will help us and protect our jobs.”

“Ultimately, this year, the goal is to elect a union friendly president and that will be Barack Obama.  AFSCME has a program that we can utilize where we release VMO’s (Volunteer Member Organizers) that can go and work for campaigns.  We also work with the Labor 2008 program.  The member to member contact through the labor walk and the phone banks is very effective and union members really appreciate it as well..”

“The most important thing is to get our members out this year.  Though the labor movement does not make up the majority, we still play a crucial role in the election.  Our organizing skills play nicely into the political process.  We are able to educate and mobilize our members more than any other organization.  Candidates recognize the power of the labor movement’s endorsement and they appreciate it.”

“It is very important that we continue to participate in the labor 2008 program and continue to push for member involvement.  Because when we do that we can deliver an election.  We’ve done it in past years and I know we can do it this year and elect Barack Obama.”

Labor Leader of the Week: Walt Friedrich, SMWIA Local 19

Walt Friedrich is a Business Agent for SMWIA Local 19 and Secretary Treasurer of the Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council.  SMWIA Local 19 has 4,700 members in Philadelphia, the Southeast, and the Central Region.

Friedrich is a third generation member of the SMWIA. In 1984 he started his apprenticeship with SMWIA Local 19 just two years out of high school.  It was as an apprentice that he realized the important connection between politics and the daily lives of union members and became involved with the local’s political program.

“I saw that a lot of times the union, in its involvement in political campaigns, was helping union and non-union workers by staying strong, keeping everyone together, and electing officials that know and recognize our issues.”

One of the biggest issues for working families this year is the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.  In 2000 Friedrich was offered a position as a full time organizer for SMWIA Local 19 in Harrisburg, which informs his views about the importance of the Employee Free Choice Act.  “Today when we help workers form unions and seek recognition from the company we get turned down or ignored.  Then we have to file for an National Labor Relations Board-sanctioned election and in the mean time the company can wage an anti-workers campaign that scares and intimidates the workers.”

“This is why the Employee Free Choice Act is so important.  It will give working people a fair chance at forming unions and negotiating with the company.  The Employee Free Choice Act will make it easier for that first contract to become a reality,” said Friedrich. “My local is doing everything it can for the Employee Free Choice Act by collecting signatures for the Million Member Mobilization Petition.  We pass out the petition at local meetings and hand it out to members to take home and back to the work place.  The Million Member Mobilization Petition is important for the labor movement to grow our numbers and send the message that we want workers to have the freedom to form a union if that is what they want.”

Friedrich emphasized that for his members the most important issues, like the Employee Free Choice Act, all come back to their pocket books.  “My members are concerned about the cost of gas.  They have to travel to worksites and are actually turning down work because it might now cost them $100 to get to a worksite when it used to cost $20.  In addition the cost of heating their homes is going up and people have to make tough decisions between groceries and heat.  And healthcare is always a big concern.  The cost of healthcare keeps going up and it seems like every time we get a wage increase it just goes towards the rising cost of healthcare.”

“We really can’t afford another four years like what we have been going through.  John McCain is just more of the same.  There are no jobs being created in this country right now and everything is going up except our wages.  It is time for a change and I know Barack Obama is the right candidate for the labor movement.  We need to get our members involved and get him elected this year to save our jobs and the future of the labor movement as we know it.”

Labor Leader of the Week: Joe King, President, IAFF Local 1

Joseph King is president of the Pittsburgh Professional Firefighters (IAFF) Local One.  700 firefighters have their union with Local One along with 900 retired members and well over 500 surviving spouses.

King voluntarily joined the U.S. Marines in 1960 and served two tours in Vietnam before being honorably discharged in 1970.  He was a professional firefighter recruit in 1974 and after six years on the job was elected as a trustee.  In 1986 he was elected Vice President and one year later he took over the presidency after the acting president was injured in a fire.  22 years later he is still president and this year marks his 35th on the job.

Because firefighters work for the city and put their lives on the line for a living, they are very active politically.  “A lot of our job protections are generated through our own state capitol, Harrisburg,” said King.  “Our local has 98% voter registration and we do get out and vote.  So any politician, from the governor to a local city council member, pays attention to us.”

“The issues that our union is concerned with, and bases its support of candidates on, are issues that effect firefighters and their families,” said King. We have to look at what our vision is for our future and then support the candidate that will support that vision.  Our livelihood depends upon it.  And that is also why our membership is so involved.”

Firefighters are especially concerned with health and safety regulations because, inevitably, every firefighter is at risk for any number of heart and lung diseases from job-related hazards.  Additionally firefighters are concerned about collective bargaining and homeland security funding.  “There are thirteen states where firefighters don’t have a right to collective bargaining.  We are lucky here in Pennsylvania but we believe that every one deserves the right to defend the health and safety of the firefighters in their union.”

“Along those same lines of safety and health we are concerned with funding for homeland security because while our members are prepared no matter what to perform their job to the best of their ability, we lose firefighters when we don’t have the funding to pay for the equipment and safety regulations they need.”

“Union members cannot take their membership for granted, no matter what line of work they are in,” said King.  “There is a tremendous amount of history in this country and the labor movement is responsible for creating most of it.  We built this country but it is still a work in progress as the last eight years have demonstrated.  Under the Bush administration I’ve watched jobs go overseas and seen working families struggle to make ends meet while big corporations report huge profit gains like Exxon Mobil’s 11.6 billion dollars in profit this year.”

“We have to educate our members and remind them that they are the labor movement.  We have to make politics work for us and the only way to do that is to get involved.  The labor movement is what will save working families in the United States so we better get to work now.  It is not about party affiliation, gender or race. It is about career and the right to work for every American.”