Calvin said:
Does AMFA have a political party? If so , what is it? Thank You
Does the TWU have a political Party?
They claim they do not. I was at the TWU COPE Conference where they insisted that. You may want to contact Peggy Olstien before you answer.
A couple of years back I was attending a class at the Meany Institute, one of the few plusses of being in the TWU. At the same time Mike McIntosh, who has since become a shop steward in MIA was attending an AFL-CIO Grassroots class. As part of the class they were to go to DC and Lobby. I went along for the ride since my class finished early.
One of our stops was at NY Congressman Charles Rangals office, a staunch "Liberal" or at least thats what he claimed to be. Rep Rangal is supported by the TWU International and was prominently featured at the 2001 Convention as "a friend of labor".
This was shortly after Rep Rangal voted "FOR" expanded trade with China. Shortly after on the news when asked if he was worried about a possible backlash from labor for his Yea vote for more trade with China he replied "Not really, what are they going to do about it vote Republican ha,ha,ha". This was prior to the 2001 Convention where he was still being hailed as "a friend of labor".
Upon arriving at his office Mike and I signed in, identified ourselves as from the TWU and asked to speak to him. We could see him sitting at his desk eating.
They said "speak to him in reference to what?".
I said "His yes vote on free trade to China."
At which point the attitude visably changed and she said "Ok, "John" will talk to you about that , the Congressman is busy now".
I replied " I see, ok".
With that a tall man, about 6'4" came out, asked me who I was and where I was from and what exactly about the bill did I want to discuss.
I said; " I wanted hear why Rep Rangel whould vote for a bill that would impact his constituancy so badly. After all the first jobs to go will be low skilled jobs. His district is a low income area where the majority of his people work such jobs."
He replied: "What industry are you in?"
I said; "The Airlines."
He said: "Well what do you care, this bill will likely help the airlines because there will be more commerce between the two countries."
I was floored by this. I said, in heightened volume " WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT DO I CARE? WHAT WILL BE GOING OVER THERE IS THE JOBS OF MY NEIGHBORS!! DO YOU THINK A FEW BUSNISSEMEN FLYING OVER TO CHINA TO MOVE ALL THE JOBS OVER THERE IS GOING TO HELP US IN THE LONG RUN? IF THIS IS THE ATTITUDE OF REP RANGAL THEN HE NOT ONLY IS NOT REPRESENTING HIS PEOPLE HE IS BETRAYING HIS COUNTRY! REP RANGAL IS TOUTING HIMSELF AS A FRIEND OF LABOR AND AN ATTITUDE SUCH AS "WHAT DO YOU CARE" COMING OUT OF HIS OFFICE IS A DISGRACE!!!
He then cut me off as three young pages slipped past us with eyes wide open , food trays in hand and scurried down the hall. He said that he had an appointment and could no longer discuss the issue.
Mike and I then went up to Rep Carolyn McCarthy, went through the same routine with some major exceptions, coincidentally the pages that left Rep Rangals office were in Rep McCarthys office. Mrs McCrathy met with us face to face. I told her that we had just come from Rep Rangals office and the discussion that we just had. She agreed and said that she was perplexed by Rep Rangals sudden change from No to Yea. Our reception and discussion with her was comfortable and reassuring.
The point is that the best way to influence polititions is face to face. If they refuse to meet with you they are uninterested in your veiws. Similar to the heirarchy of the TWU. The TWU supports people like Rep Rangal who let labor down on key issues that effect all workers simply because they help these leaders fight issues such as a more detailed LM-2.
I agree with the concept of a politically active labor organization. I believe that it is critical to its long term success. While I agree that highly funded special interest thwart Democracy as long as business is allowed to use their money and power to influence politics labor organizations must do the same.
The problem is that while big business owns both parties, labor is satified with a minority stake in one of them. As a result we only get partial support. Charles Rangal is a perfect example.
Labor needs its own party. The TWU and the AFL-CIO would rather maintain the status quo, since it provides them with another way to deflect blame, than do what needs to be done. They have no real excuse, our dues have provided them the resources, but they would rather use those dues for office space on Broadway($900,000), cars for International officers($345,000) and exhorbitant salaries ($200,000) than spend them trying to improve the conditions of working people.
