#36 English 7/17/03

What’s left after 90,000 layoffs … after GVP Hooper’s untimely death … after

14 Machinists are shot in Mississippi because of the color of their skin … after

AMFA wins at United? What’s left is the hard core of this Union!

Look around you.

What you’ll see are the veterans who fought for the seniority clauses in your

IAM contract … the ones who fought for IAM wages that are more than four

times higher than McDonald’s or Wal-Mart … who fought for the IAM pension

and health care benefits that are so envied by non-union workers … who

fought for the vacation days, shift assignments, health and safety protections

that some take for granted.

Look around you.

What you’ll see are communities filled with middle class families that a generation

or two ago rented their apartments, relied on second-hand cars and

dreamed of owning a color television set. Now their homes are filled with imported

electronic devices, imported shoes and clothes, imported appliances.

Their driveways are filled with two or more imported cars.

What made all that apparent wealth possible? You did.

In negotiations, during organizing drives, on picket lines, and at protests for

the last 115 years, IAM members have pushed hard for a better life – for themselves,

for their families, for their communities and for their two countries.

Look around. What you’ll find is the hard core: IAM members just like you.

R. Thomas Buffenbarger

International President