Joint officers’ column from the summer 2008 issue of the IBEW Journal

A New Deal for Working Families

Historians are already declaring the 2008 presidential election a watershed moment, ranking with such pivotal events as the election that gave rise to the New Deal.

We like the New Deal comparison. This issue of the Journal is packed with factual evidence of the bad hand that working families have been dealt by the Bush/Cheney administration. Economic conditions are not as dire as they were for Americans during the Great Depression. But never have we been in greater need of a return to a government that protects hard-working Americans and an administration that cares about the future of our children.

We don’t use terms like “selling out America” lightly when reviewing eight years of Bush and Cheney. This is the tragic reality of an administration that has turned its back on its predecessors—legendary Republicans like Theodore Roosevelt. Faced with a growing chasm between rich robber barons and workers, Roosevelt told his fellow Republicans that they must set themselves “as resolutely against improper corporate influence on the one hand as against demagogy and mob rule on the other.”

We have an answer to being sold out by politicians who are under improper corporate influence. In 2006, our unions mobilized politically and swept some of the worst offenders out of congressional office. If you think your vote doesn’t matter, consider some of the fine men and women we helped elect. 

We’re talking about true patriots like Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), a battle-tested Marine in Vietnam, an accomplished author, and the Secretary of the Navy under President Ronald Reagan. Webb took the lead in honoring our veterans by winning a majority of his peers—Democratic and Republican—to support a new G.I. bill over the opposition of President Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).  

We’re talking about leaders like Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who helped write the TRADE Act to restore congressional oversight of trade agreements. Our candidates are delivering on their promises to be the voices of working Americans.

Change is never easy. It’s often hard to find the time to volunteer to work on a campaign or a get-out-the-vote effort. And convincing our co-workers to pay attention to the real issues and not be distracted by partisan distractions takes commitment and courage. 

The IBEW’s strengthened grassroots political program is designed to help our locals meet these challenges in 2008. Representatives of our Political/Legislative Department are traveling widely across our union’s districts conducting training and brainstorming sessions. The response has been enthusiastic. 

Over the past eight years, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has been President Bush’s most reliable supporter in Congress. Despite his claim to “straight talk” and his heroic service to our nation, McCain should be judged by his actions. His record indicates that he would continue the same Bush administration policies that have championed the needs of Wall Street bankers above those of ordinary Americans. 

As proof, the anti-union Associated Builders and Contractors has enthusiastically endorsed McCain because he promises to oppose Davis-Bacon prevailing wage legislation and project labor agreements. And McCain supports “guest worker” legislation which would lead to more exploitation of immigrant workers and would drive down the wages and benefits of our members.

We didn’t endorse a candidate during the primaries, but we now have a clear choice to recommend to our members. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has a plan that incorporates economic fairness and common sense. He would set aside McCain’s promise of more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans in favor of programs to create new green jobs and to help more students attend college.

In stark contrast to McCain, Obama is concerned about what kinds of jobs will be created and what kind of workplaces our children will enter. That is why he has always supported prevailing wage legislation. And that is why he supports the Employee Free Choice Act—which McCain opposes—to help workers organize and level the playing field with their employers.

As we stated earlier, it will take courage to reject the misinformation that is already being spread about Obama. Labor’s opponents hope that our members will fall for the lie that Obama is unpatriotic and an “elitist” who is out of touch with the issues affecting working families. 

Obama, raised by a single mother in modest economic circumstances, worked his way through Harvard Law School. He could have entered a lucrative law practice. But he returned to Chicago and worked as a community organizer in a neighborhood that was suffering after the steel mills shut down. He only recently paid off his college loans. 

At age 36, Obama was elected to the Illinois legislature. Tim Foley, business manager of Chicago Local 134 says, “We grew up with Barack Obama and supported him from his first run for the state legislature because he has always stood by us on the important issues.”

In his three books and in his public life, Obama has cast his own progress as being possible only because of the American Dream. His opposition to the Iraq War was based, in part, on his belief that the Bush administration’s invasion of that nation left America more unsafe by distracting attention from the battle against Al-Qaida and global terrorism in the hills of Afghanistan.

We honor McCain’s service to our nation. Among our members are thousands who have served with distinction in the U.S. military. But as trade unionists, we believe that love of one’s country should extend to respect for the rights and the well-being of the working people who keep our nation strong. John McCain fails that test.

Our adversaries are already working to exploit historical cultural and racial biases to dissuade us from voting for Barack Obama. It’s time for clear thinking, not for living in the past. Study the issues. Spread the word. Help elect a Congress and a president who believe that it’s time for a 21st century new deal for working families.