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What We Value

Americans took to the polls and re-elected President Bush a month ago. They voted in great number and although it was close, the win was clear. So be it.

But the labor movements campaign for greater justice and decency will not end here. Our ambition for a better United States under God will never end.

Pundits have offered this election up as a testament to the "values" voters who turned out for President Bush. I dont buy it. Like so many of you, my personal religious faith gives me my core values, but I also learned values from the community I grew up in and, especially, from my 48 years in the labor movement. Concern for the less fortunate and the importance of treating others with respect and fairness are values that most of us live by.

During the campaign, we emphasized the issues we considered crucial for working families, those domestic policies that have the most direct impact on the lives and livelihoods of IBEW members. It is gratifying that many IBEW members understood that when it comes to pocketbook issues, their best interests lie with the Democrats, even if they did not agree with them on every policy matter.

But we have heard from many IBEW brothers and sisters who did not agree. It is those members to whom I address this question: Will you stand with us to fight for the interests of workers in the next four years? If the administration attempts to accomplish what I fear it might, we will need everyone to help us retain the rights and privileges we all cherish as North American trade unionists.

There is plenty cause for concern. Pensions, though much more common for labor union members than workers in general, are increasingly hard to come by. Big tax cuts for the wealthy have driven the Social Security trust fund to the brink of insolvency. Wal-Marts domination of the retail landscape has accelerated Americas evolution into a country with a fast-shrinking industrial base and legions of low-paid, poorly treated workers who cannot afford health insurance or basic care for their families. The national debt has climbed to inconceivably high levels, and the value of the dollar is plummeting. While China rises as the worlds largest manufacturer and sweatshop, it holds ever-larger chunks of our debt in the form of treasury bonds the U.S. sells to finance federal government operations on credit. This is credit we have to repay with interest, and it is dragging our economy down. (There is a dismaying absurdity in the notion that first we helped China take our jobs away, and now we are paying them for it.) Overtime, strong workers rights and fair benefits are the rewards of the past. The future for working families under this administration does not look promising.

The labor movement unapologetically stands for living wages, not poverty scale pay. We believe the social contract between workers and employers should include reasonable health benefits. And retirement should provide a modest, comfortable lifestyle for those who earned it in exchange for decades of hard work. Dignity and respect are worthy ideals we should all practice, whether in a place of worship, out in the community or on the job. The labor movement is the place for people who dont check their values at the door of the work place when they prove inconvenient.

We will continue to strive for greater unity in this great and diverse union. Only when we work together for common purpose will we build a movement that all of our members can rally around.

On behalf of all the officers and staff of the IBEW, we wish all of you and your loved ones the very happiest of holiday seasons and a new year of solidarity and progress.

Edwin D. Hill

International President