It certainly has been a busy winter here in Washington, D.C.

Congress has been holding non-stop hearings on the Enron fiasco. Campaign finance reform has passed the House and, at this writing, the same version is likely to be passed by the Senate. The President announced his proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2003. And, oh yes, the free world is conducting a war on terrorism that is far from over.

IBEW members from Portland General Electric, represented by Local 125, have now testified on three occasions on Capitol Hill (see page 14 for one account). The stories of how workers’ pensions disappeared is only one part of the incredible machinations that "Kenny Boy" Lay and his minions developed at Enron. The depth of intrigue and corruption is stunning, dragging down with it not only the energy conglomerate that was more interested in paper than electricity, but also the reputation of one of the most previously prestigious accounting firms, Arthur Andersen. Does anyone now doubt that this is only the tip of the iceberg?

But never fear, the Bush Administration is on the case. As Enron became a daily staple of screaming headlines, the administration’s budget proposes deep cuts in numerous domestic programs. But guess what’s getting more money? The investigative arm of the Department of Labor, that’s who. The boys from the oil patch are certainly going to stamp out union corruption, all right. The hypocrisy of it all is enough to make one sick.

Enron fever also seized Congress. Now that money temporarily has a bad reputation, they voted to ban the so-called soft money contributions to political parties. It remains to be seen which party will benefit most from this change, but I can venture a guess. Republicans have more fat cat contributors, so the increased reliance on "hard money" will probably work to their advantage. And what’s with the ban on issue advertisements within 60 days of an election? Congress is trying to tell all of us, from whatever end of the spectrum, that we can’t communicate our views to the public before people vote? The lawyers are already salivating over the First Amendment suits on that one.

So once again, we ask where that leaves us. All I know for sure is that our tried and true formula remains the same. We need to keep IBEW-PAC strong, but more important is our grass roots strength. We will continue to do what we did in the United States in 1998 and 2000 and have started to do in Canada—educate our members, mobilize them, and turn them out to vote. Once they’re in the voting booth, it’s up to them.

The mid-term elections in the U.S. are still six months away. But now is the time to start thinking. The political power in this country is lined up against the best interests of working families. Yes, we support the President as he conducts the war, but the commander-in-chief isn’t on the ballot this year. Your Senators, Congressmen and state legislators are. These are the people who have a big day-to-day impact on your working life. If the crowd that has been in charge in Washington stays in control, we lose. Think about that before you give people who hold an anti-worker viewpoint (whatever their party) your vote. There’s a lot more to be said on this subject before November rolls around. We’ll talk. 

  Secretary-
Treasurer’s
Message

March 2002 IBEW Journal

"The political power in this country is lined up against the best interests of working  families"