Vote as if your pension depends on it

From the Desk of Directing Business Rep Don Crosatto

Dear IAM members,

As you prepare to fill out your 2024 election ballot, consider the issues that matter most to you. I believe that ensuring a secure retirement should be a top priority.

For those of you who regularly read The Sparkplug, you may recall our coverage of challenges faced by the Automotive Industries pension plan. Over a decade ago, we learned that the plan was projected to run out of funds by the early 2030s. While the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) provided insurance for multi-employer pensions like ours, we were aware that the potential collapse of the massive Teamsters Central States Plan could lead to the PBGC’s bankruptcy, leaving our members without any retirement benefits.

There was some hope when Donald Trump was elected, as he had experience working with construction unions. However, during his administration, he never uttered the word pension, and no action was taken by the White House to protect our pensions.

In response to the looming crisis, Congress established a special Committee led by Sen. Sherrod Brown (OH) to propose solutions. Despite efforts from unions like the IAM to engage with Republican committee members, little progress was made due to their non-participation in meetings. As a result, the committee disbanded in 2018 without concrete recommendations.

In 2020, a new President and Congress were elected. President Biden’s first significant action in March 2021 was to pass the American Rescue Act (ARA), which included the Butch Lewis Act. This crucial legislation, unanimously supported by Democrats and unanimously opposed by Republicans, ultimately led to the rescue of the Automotive Industries Pension with a $1.1 billion payout. All this is thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris, who cast the tie-breaking vote in the evenly split Senate.

If you’re still undecided about which candidate will support you as a worker or retiree, and as a union member, please refer to page three for more information. Our goal is to provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision.

Regardless of your choice, I urge you to use your voice and vote on or before November 5. In solidarity,

Don Crosatto

Be aware of Project 2025

Project 2025 is a 920-page policy paper created as a policy blueprint for the new Trump administration by the far-right Heritage Foundation. Over 100 former Trump staffers contributed to the report, and its introduction was written by JD Vance, Trump’s Vice-Presidential candidate. Whether or not Trump knows the details of this plan, his closest aides plan to implement as much of it as possible. Here is some of what’s in it:

• Eliminate the tax deduction for state and local income tax. (You get to pay taxes on your taxes.)
• Health Care: Either remove the tax deduction from the employer, which will incentivize employers to put people into inferior plans, or repeal Obamacare, replacing it only with the “concept” of a new health care plan.
• Abolish public sector unions and collective bargaining. Gut civil service job protections. (Trump already passed executive orders to implement this; Biden rescinded those, but Trump would no doubt reinstate them.)
• Replace overtime pay at time-and-a-half with one-to-one comp time (if the employer lets you use it.)
• Cut OSHA to reduce workplace safety and health inspections.
• Repeal the 93-year-old Davis-Bacon Act, which requires contractors on public works projects to pay the prevailing wage paid to local workers doing similar work.
• Make it easier for 16- and 17-year olds to work in dangerous jobs – jobs that federal law currently makes off-limits to workers under the age of 18.
• Amend federal law to allow corporations to form non-union “employee involvement organizations,” thus undermining true unions.