Below is a letter that can be personalized and mailed to representatives and senators in the U.S. congress. As union members outraged by the recent Bush initiatives that are blatantly anti-union we are trying to reach as many members of congress as possible with our concerns.
This all came about as a challenge to members of the ironworkers trade at a website bulletin board at The Union Worker under the heading Federal Labor Standards. That web address is http://theunionworker.com/
Some of the members noticed the ABC using their website to aggressively attack unions and misinform people to promote their anti-union agenda in grassroots campaign strategies. If we do not fight back with our own grassroots effort to promote and support unionism our numbers will continue to decrease as well as our effectiveness to secure jobs in the Building Trades. This is a serious problem that can only be resolved by active participation from the members of unions throughout the country.
As it stands now, the ABC along with other anti-union organizations is gearing up to reap all the benefits of having their man in the White House. We are in for a long struggle and it can only be won if we act now in solidarity for a common cause.
Your help is needed if we are to withstand the onslaught from the anti-union elements mobilized against us as a result of the favorable conditions they now enjoy. Please use the following letter to voice these concerns to congress. This is serious and if we fail to act now the powerful forces arrayed against will see it as a sign of weakness.
Here is a link to a batch e-mail site -
http://www.mailblasterdot.com/
Here is a link to find your representatives addresses -
(Letter to representatives in congress)
NAME
ADDRESS
CITY, SATE, ZIP
DATE
Dear (senator___ or representative___):
I am writing to you to express my deep concerns for the proposed budget cuts, which have been indicated by President Bush in his comments to a Governors Association Meeting on February 26, 2001. The intended actions of the President were also noted in a Cabinet Room meeting and in a Presidential Memorandum for all Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies on the same date. It is my understanding the proposal of the President, will be to further cut the services of Federal Agencies, as a proviso to funding his tax cuts. It is with deep concern that I hear such intentions. It is well recognized that if a president can not defeat such laws as the Fair Labor Stands Act, the Davis-Bacon Act, The Service Contract Act, Equal Opportunity, and many others; the most effective method of making these laws ineffective is to eliminate the ability of the U.S. Department of Labor and any other enforcement agency to do their jobs. These laws were written to protect the rights and wages of working men and woman. Any further reduction in force, funds or personnel beyond their current levels, effectively disenfranchises the very men and women the laws were written to protect.
The current administration is intent on passing huge unnecessary tax cuts for the wealthiest citizens at the expense of programs designed to help the working poor and America's middle class. Should the President's budget cut proposals weaken or otherwise harm labor and labor's effectiveness in negotiating fair wages and working conditions, the very foundation of this country and generations of hard work will have been in vain.
America's working majority is the backbone of this Nation and the driving force in feeding our economy with its' purchasing power. Any Presidential, or legislative action which harms or otherwise weakens America's workforce of men, women, and their families, will ultimately backfire and harm the Nation as a whole. It is my request that you give careful consideration to reducing the size of the government; further considering the target of any proposed tax cuts to better serve the needs of the working majority and keep programs that strengthen the American Labor Force, the working poor, and thus the Nation as a whole.
I am requesting that you advise me of your intentions regarding the Presidents proposals as noted above.
Sincerely,