W
hy are unions supporting Barack
Obama for re-election? It’s been
a rough four years for union members,
and Obama has disappointed the labor
movement in lots of ways.
During his first term he has continu-
ally pushed for passage of free trade
agreements, which labor adamantly op-
poses. He has not followed through on
proposed executive orders and reforms,
including those that would require em-
ployers to report ergonomic injuries;
mandate that companies with federal
contracts disclose their electoral spend-
ing; and require greater disclosure from
union-busting consultants.
He remained silent as Republican
Labor is sticking with Obama
governors in Wisconsin and other states
maneuvered to strip union workers of
their collective bargaining rights and
their right to unionize, and when Re-
publican members of Congress at-
tacked the National Labor Relations
Board (NLRB) after it challenged Boe-
ing’s decision to punish union workers
by locating in South Carolina.
The first two years of Obama’s term
were organized labor’s best chance in
decades to pass labor law reforms that
could reverse the union movement’s
long decline. Labor went all out to pass
Union-made
Halloween
candy
When those little ghosts and goblins come collecting on
Halloween, make sure you have a full supply of union-made-
in-America treats for them. Here's a brief list of choices of
candy products made by members of the Bakery, Confec-
tionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International
Union; snack foods by members of the United Food and
Commercial Workers; or fruit and nuts from members of
the United Farm Workers of America.
HERSHEY PRODUCTS: Hershey Kisses*, Hershey Milk Choco-
late Bar*, Hershey Special Dark Bars, Hershey Milk with Almond
Bars, Hershey Nuggets, Rolos, Hershey Kissables, Kit Kat Bars,
Carmello Bar, Cadbury Fruit & Nut Bar, Cadbury Roast Almond
Bar, Cadbury Dairy Milk Bar, Cadbury Royal Dark Bar, Hershey
Symphony Bar with Toffee.
NECCO (New England Confectionery Co.): Mary Jane Peanut
Butter Chews, NECCO Wafers, NeccoWafer Smoothies, NECCO
Assorted Junior Wafers, Sky Bar, Clark Bar, Canada Mints,
Candy Cupboard, Thin Mints, Clark Junior Laydown Bag, Mary
Jane Laydown Bag, Haviland Mallow Cups, Necco Peanut Butter
Kisses.
the long-blocked Employee
Free Choice Act — a bill to
crack down on employer
abuses during union cam-
paigns and make it easier for
workers to unionize and get a
first contract — but the
Obama Administration did lit-
tle to support it, and the bill
faltered.
There have been bright
spots for labor under Obama. He signed
the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which
lengthened the amount of time women
have to sue for gender discrimination.
Immediately on taking office he issued
an executive order encouraging the Gen-
eral Services Administration to sign
project labor agreements on big federal
construction projects. The Obama-ap-
pointed National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) has been much more pro-labor
than the Bush-era Board. And Obama’s
appointee to the Transportation Safety
Administration agreed to give limited
union rights to airport screeners.
The Obama Administration put
money into GM and Chrysler to help
them recover from the brink of collapse.
And though the aid was conditioned on
contract concessions by union workers,
the action ultimately saved tens of thou-
sands of jobs. The American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act, better known as
the stimulus, also created jobs for con-
struction workers and prevented layoffs
of teachers and other public employees
for a year. Nearly half of ARRA’s price
tag, however, was for tax breaks for cor-
porations and individuals, and evidence
suggests the recipients held onto the
funds or paid down debts,
limiting its effects as “stim-
ulus.”
When the ARRA funds
ran out and were not re-
newed, hundreds of thou-
sands eventually were laid
off.
Obama also focused on
the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act,
which ultimately became known as
Obamacare. In his 2008 campaign,
Obama had outlined plans for health in-
surance reform, a key part of which was
to be a public insurance option that
would compete with insurance compa-
nies to keep premiums in check. In of-
fice, Obama never advocated for the
public option, and in the end, it was left
out, while over strong union objections,
Obamacare included a 40 percent ex-
cise tax on so-called “Cadillac” plans,
high-cost employer-provided health in-
surance plans. But Obamacare does
have a number of popular provisions,
including expansion of Medicaid and
insurance industry reforms — no
charge for preventive care, kids staying
on parents plans until age 26, and bans
on annual or lifetime maximums, and
prohibition of rescissions and denials of
coverage for pre-existing conditions.
Given all this history, why is every
national union in the country endorsing
Obama for re-election? The answer is
two words long: Mitt Romney. Union-
ists may look at Obama with disap-
pointment, but when they look at Rom-
ney, they see everything that’s wrong
with corporate America.
The rap is that Romney — born to
wealth and power as the son of a auto-
mobile executive and Michigan gover-
nor — made a career as a private equity
manager, making millions with lever-
aged buyouts of companies, many of
which were looted, outsourced over-
seas, sold, and in a number of cases
bankrupted. Thousands of American
workers lost their jobs at companies
bought by Romney’s firm Bain Capital,
while Romney and his co-owners col-
lected hundreds of millions of dollars in
dividends and management fees. The
proceeds from this, as evidenced by
Romney’s 2010 tax returns, are held in
offshore accounts in Switzerland, Cay-
man Islands, Bermuda and other coun-
tries, and his net worth is estimated to
be in the range of $200 million.
On the campaign trail, Romney has
repeatedly expressed hostility toward
unions, support for union-busting state
governors, and the desire to change
federal law and federal policies to
weaken or eliminate unions.
Romney supports a national right-
to-work law and would like to see the
federal Davis Bacon Act abolished. He
supports privatizing Social Security
and replacing Medicare with a private
voucher system that would raise the el-
igibility age and force seniors to pay
twice as much for their coverage.
“The fact is that the election in No-
vember poses two very different vi-
sions for America,” AFL-CIO Presi-
dent Richard Trumka says in a
seven-minute video entitled, Meet Mr
1 %. “One candidate embodies every-
thing Wall Street and the 1 percent
stand for, and wants to double down on
the policies that broke our economy.
The other candidate, Barack Obama, is
a champion for the 99 percent.”
For the Future of Clackamas County
VOTE
JUST BORN: Peeps, Mike & Ike, Hot Tamales, Peanut Chews,
Jelly Beans.
JELLY BELLY’S CANDY CO.: Jelly Bellies (also made in
nonunion plants in Chicago and Taiwan), Chocolate Dutch
Mints, Chocolate Temptations, dimples, Goelitz Confections,
Goelitz Gummi, Pet Rat, Pet Tarantula, Sweet Temptations,
Candy Corn, Licorice, Malted Milk Balls Chocolate Coated Nuts,
SoursSunkist Fruit Gel Slices.
AMERICAN LICORICE: Black & Red Vines, Strawberry Ropes.
SCONZA CANDIES: Jawbreakers,Chocolate Covered Cher-
ries,Chocolates.
GHIRADELLI CHOCOLATES:All filled & non filled squares,non-
pareils.
GIMBALS FINE CANDIES:JellyBeans,Cherry Hearts, Scotty
Dogs
NESTLE: Nestlé Treasures, Laffy Taffy, Kathryn Beich specialty
candy, Baby Ruth*, Butterfinger*, Pearson's Nips,Famous Old-
Time Candies,Nestlé Crunch,Butterfinger,Crisp.
PEARSON'S CANDY CO.: Salted Nut Roll, Nut Goodie, Mint
Patties, Bun Bars.
ANABELLES CANDY COMPANY:Boston Baked Beans, Jordan
Almonds,Rocky Road,U-Nos,Look,Big Hunk, Abba-Zaba, Yo-
gurt Nuts & Fruit
* Some products made in Mexico; check label for country of ori-
gin.
PAGE 12
ENDORSED BY: Northwest Oregon Labor Council, AFL-CIO
Oregon AFSCME Council 75
Teamsters Joint Council No. 37
Service Employees International Union Local 503
IBEW Local 48
Columbia Pacific Building and Construction Trades Council
United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555
Professional Firefighters of Clackamas County, Locals 1159 & 1160
Paid for by Friends of Charlotte Lehan
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
OCTOBER 19, 2012