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FEATURES As I See It / George Tedeschi ....... 2 Outlook / James Hoffa ............. 2 Managing Editor’s Note / Fred Bruning .. 3 Commentary / Thomas Mackell Jr..... 3 Point of View / Harold Meyerson ..... 6 Bottom Line / Jerry Morgan ........ 7 Volume 34 Number 3 The Newspaper of the Graphic Communications Conference / IBT ❘ www.gciu.org ❘ July-Aug.-Sept. 2016 Guest Spot / Douglas Nowakowski .... 7 Photographs Marcus Convention that Mirror Hedger Shows Pride the ‘Human Wins His & Solidarity Condition’ Job Back of GCC/IBT PHILIP TAYLOR PHOTOGRAPHS PHOTO BY DAVID ISHAC PAGE 5 PAGE 11 PAGE 8-10 IBT FOTO BY FRED NYE TOP STORY Get Ready To Fight For Union ‘Survival’ By Fred Bruning Graphic Communicator BIG STOCK union officials, delegates from around the country and top teamster Leaders at the third GCC/IBT convention in Las Vegas warned that powerful enemies have ‘openly leaders vowed at the third GCC/IBT convention in Las Vegas to safeguard rank-and- declared war on labor unions’ and urged that members become well informed and politically active to file members from workplace injustice and build a stronger union movement amid assure worker-friendly candidates prevail in this pivotal election year. economic jitters, political uncertainty and fierce anti-labor maneuvering by big money interests. “We’ve got a fight on our hands,” James P. Hoffa, IBT general president told GCC/ “When people rise to the occasion, it shows,” said GCC/IBT president George IBT delegates. “We want to make sure you’re here in 100 years.” Tedeschi. Ken Hall, the IBT general secretary-treasurer, also sounded a warning. Against a backdrop of Donald Trump’s ascendancy as presumptive GOP presidential The billionaire Koch Brothers and shadowy business group called the American candidate, global financial upheaval and Washington gridlock, convention goers at the Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) are among those dedicated to one goal – “wiping out June 23-25 meeting said it was essential to show strength and solidarity. the middle class” – by consolidating wealth for the very few and crippling the union move- Failure could be fatal. continues on PAGE 16 COMMENTARY Americans Must Reject Unions, Obama Rally for Flint Extremism, and Trump PAGE 3 ONEGEN.ORG Printed in the USA Groups representing organized labor – including a GCC/IBT contingent – demanded that city and state officials be held accountable for a drinking water crisis that put Flint, Michigan residents at risk while President Barack Obama visited the city to check on progress – and test upgraded water, himself. Also addressing the problem were Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, left, and Gina McCarthy, Environmental Protection Agency administrator. PAGE 14 OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BY LAWRENCE JACKSON AS I SEE IT GEORGE TEDESCHI GCC/IBT PRESIDENT Don’t Spend 2016 Graphic Stuck on Sidelines THERE WAS PLENTY OF GOOD SOLID UNION TALK AT THE ComThem Newspaperunicat o r GCC/IBT convention in Las Vegas inside and outside the meeting hall of the Graphic – everything from organizing to negotiating strategy – but we didn’t Communications stop there. With a presidential election fewer than six months away, poli- Conference / IBT tics was a prominent – and appropriate – Volume 34 Number 3 theme. There’s a lot on the line. Voting for a national leader is a solemn July-Aug.-Sept. 2016 obligation of citizenship. For union people, backing a candidate – and party –commit- (USPS 410-750) ted to protecting workers and the labor movement is no less essential a task. For months, I have been saying at every sion. But for more than a generation the party has drifted from its Official organ of the union gathering I attend that we have to be roots. Would Teddy Roosevelt recognize the modern GOP? Would Graphic Communications engaged in the political process. We cannot Dwight Eisenhower? The party of Lincoln? Not anymore. Conference/International Brotherhood of Teamsters sit on the sidelines. We must be informed With far-right billionaire backers, obstructionist schemes and disproven notions of trickle-down economics, Republicans have posi- and ready to counter the arguments of 25 Louisiana Ave. NW labor’s ardent enemies. tioned themselves on the extreme outer edge of the American political Washington, D.C. 20001 In Vegas, I repeated the message. spectrum. 202-508-6660 “Don’t kid yourselves, the stakes are high,” I told delegates. “The After years of stoking fear and distrust of government, the GOP got right wing is getting stronger and more extreme. Organized labor is a its just rewards in the primary season when disaffected voters shunned e-mail: [email protected] target. We have to protect ourselves.” the “establishment” in favor of so-called “outsider” candidates like Internet: www.gciu.org Secretary-Treasurer/Vice President Bob Lacey sounded a similar Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Incredibly, Trump now is the party’s GEORGE TEDESCHI standard bearer. Mainline Republicans are in a panic, and no wonder. alarm, and so did a number of other speakers. Editor There was a sense of urgency in our words, and there needed to Despite upheaval in party ranks, Republicans are regrouping. They be. are rallying around Trump who could be tough to beat in the fall. At FRED BRUNING Unions have been taking a beating for years and the far-right zeal- our convention, I tried to sound a warning and urged leaders to go Managing Editor ots who now control the Republican Party would be delighted to see back to their locals with a strong sense of purpose and commitment. I us disappear. told them to work for politicians who support the middle class – and AFFILIATIONS That’s why state GOP leaders impose regressive right-to-work laws do not wage a war on workers. Change to Win Coalition around the country. If Republicans hold the Senate and House and Wherever we gather – in a convention auditorium or local union Canadian Labour Congress hall – let’s pass the word: Get involved. Study the issues. Honor your win the White House – watch out. There will be a push for a national Member of International version of right-to-work, count on it. country and preserve the great American labor movement. Strong and Labor Communications Association Let’s be clear. I’m not slamming Republicans out of partisan pas- united, we are sure to prevail. of Labour Media OUTLOOK JAMES HOFFA IBT GENERAL PRESIDENT PRINTED IN U.S.A. GRAPHIC COMMUNICATOR (ISSN 0746-3626) is published quarterly in January-February-March, April-May-June, July- Demand Stronger Workplace Safety Rules August-September, October- November-December for a TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS Forty-six years ago, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and total of four issues a year for should be making the workplace safer but Health Act, promising every worker the right to a safe job. Decades $12 per year in the United deaths and injuries on the job are still a of struggle by workers and their unions have resulted in significant States and Canada and major concern. improvements in working conditions. $15 for all other countries by the Graphic Communications The Department of Labor reported that But as government figures show, the toll of workplace injury, Conference/International 4,679 workers were fatally injured on the job illness and death remains enormous. Some Teamsters within the Brotherhood of Teamsters, 25 in 2014, up two percent from the previous union’s 22 trade divisions and conferences are particularly at risk, Louisiana Ave. NW year. Meanwhile, a report issued last month suffering very high rates of job injuries and fatalities. Washington, D.C. 20001. by the Occupational Safety and Health Certain populations are also more at risk than others. Latino and Periodical postage paid at Washington, D.C. and Administration (OSHA) said employers immigrant workers, who often work in the most dangerous jobs and additional mailing offices. noted more than 10,000 severe work-related are exploited by employers, often have no union protections and are injuries in 2015, resulting in 2,644 amputa- afraid to speak out. POSTMASTER: tions and 7,636 hospitalizations. Hundreds of workers are fired or harassed by their employers Send address changes to the Since companies have only been required to report such injuries each year simply for voicing job-safety concerns or reporting injuries. GRAPHIC COMMUNICATOR, 25 Louisiana Ave. NW within 24 hours as of last year, the document said the reported number Whistleblower and anti-retaliation provisions are not adequately Washington, D.C. 20001. of severe injuries likely does not detail the full extent of the problem. protecting workers who try to exercise their legal rights to speak out “OSHA believes that many severe injuries — perhaps 50 percent or on workplace safety issues. Publications Mail Agreement more — are not being reported,” the report said. It added: “Because We need to join hands to seek stronger safety and health protec- No. 41461512. CANADA POST: the majority of first-year reports were filed by large employers, we tions and better standards and enforcement. To quote Mother Jones, Return undeliverables to believe that many small and mid-sized employers are unaware of the a small woman but a giant in the American labor movement, “Mourn P.O. Box 2601, 6915 Dixie Rd, new requirements.” for the dead and fight like hell for the living.” Mississauga, ON L4T 0A9. 2 Graphic Communicator EDITOR’S NOTE COMMENTARY FRED BRUNING MANAGING EDITOR New Look Designed To Serve You Better IT’S BEEN NEARLY 10 YEARS SINCE WE GAVE THE COMMUNI- cator a more modern look. About time for a tune-up. Page One is brighter, more varied and serves as a kind of index for must-read material inside. This arrangement permits us to highlight top stories – coverage of the GCC/IBT convention last month, for example – while emphasizing other impor- tant news.
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