1984-07 July IBEW Journal.pdf - International Brotherhood of ...

EDITORIAL
COMMENT
,
Labor's
Endorsement Of
Mondale Was The
RightThing To Do!
For the past several months our
Journal has carried editorials and
fcatmed tlnidt:s which have favored
the acti on of the AFl·CIO
and its affihalcs, including the
lBEW, of endorsing Walter F. Mondale
for President of the United
States.
We arc now more than ever of
the firm opinion that labor's cndorsement
of fonner Vice President
Mondalc was the right thing
to dn. We have received many
expressions that commend the officers
of the Brotherhood on our
judgment and the stand taken on
the Mondalc enrlursclIlt:IH . We
have also received a few letters
taking exception to the endorsement.
As we have emphaticall y
pointed out before in paSt statements
which also have been printed
in the /ournal-evcry man and
woman in our Brotherhood, and
every man and woman in our
country of voting age or over, has
the right and privil ege of voting
for the candidate who in the voter's
opinion is the best qualified
to admmister the affairs of our
nation. That righ t is pan of an
individual's freedom given under
our wonderful democratic system,
a system that we are most fortunate
to live under and one that
never should be changed. But there
is one pomt I want to mak e very
clear. Your officers have an obli·
ga ted responsibility to the members
we serve to advise them on
all matters affecting their welfare
as we look after their hest interests
and that of our Brotherhood. This
includes keeping our members informed
and knowledgeable on political
and legislative matters that
affect their statuS in life as union
members.
Political :1ction, whether we like
it or not, has become an integral
pan of the trade union movement
and its programs to obtalll the
necessary legislation that brings
econom ic progress, protection and
security to union members and a ll
workers. Politic-'ll action by unions
is also needed to help fight against
the enemies of organized workers,
who for greed and profit have a
fervent desire to wipe legislauon
off the books that was enacted to
give workers the right to join
unions and to bargain collectively
with thei r employers. Today in
the White House we have a president
and his administration who
a.re most insensitive to workers'
needs, hostile to unions and who
arc predominantl y working in the
best interests of corporate business
and the wealthy class of our
nation.
Since taking offi ce President
Reagan and his administration
have, through their economic policies,
undermined the wages and
living standards of the workforce
of America. Also, in their futile
attempt to balance the budgct
through "Reaganomics," they have
also brought untold misery and
suffering to millions of unem ­
ployed workers, the elderly, the
poor, the sick and the disadvan·
taged.
Never in the history of orga·
nized labor has there been a morc
anti-union atmosphere generated
by a president and his adminis·
tration. By regulatory powers they
have decimated the protection affUlded
workers under OSHA,
Davis-Bacon, minimum-wagc-andhour
laws, and have stacked the
NLRB with people who have made
successful careers working for u l­
tra-conservative, anti-union organizations.
Even the U.S. Supreme
Court, evidently caught up in the
fever to bust unions, handed down
a horrendous decision which al ­
lows employers to escape their
obligations under a union contract
simply by implying bankruptcy,
nOt proving it.
There is only one answer to help
end the war against the effect iveness
of the trade union movement-
rid the White House and
the Congress of the enemies of
organized labor. One great step in
the right direction is to keep workmg
for the election of Walter F.
Mondale in November.
r!l..k 9/ iJJLd..
Charles H. Pi ll ard
International President
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