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.

2024 Elections - Help for the Undecided

A quick review of the candidates' stands on union & worker-related issues

Candidates for President

Kamala Harris (D)

Kamala Harris has been Vice-President for four years, U.S. Senator for four years, and California Attorney General for six years.

  • The AFL-CIO gave Harris a lifetime score of 98% on her Senate voting record and gave VP Candidate Tim Walz a 93% rating for his votes in Congress. (He belonged to the National Education Association, the nation’s largest labor union, while working as a high school teacher.)
  • Harris has fought for many policies strongly backed by unions, including the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. Harris also supported the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, the CHIPS Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, which together have and will create hundreds of thousands of good-paying union jobs for union members.
  • Harris saved the pensions of more than 1 million union workers and retirees (see page 1) and led the administration’s efforts to increase access to affordable child care and expand the child tax credit
  • Harris stood on picket lines with striking writers and auto workers. As Vice President, Harris chaired the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment. Here are some of its recommendations:
  • Pass the PRO Act, “which would rebuild workers’ organizing and bargaining rights in the private sector after decades of erosion.”
  • Pass the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, which would “expand public-sector worker collective bargaining rights for state and local government employees.”
  • Extend the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to domestic and agricultural workers.
  • Make the tax code pro-labor. Options include making union dues eligible for a tax credit or above-the-line deduction and denying employers deductions for union-busting activities.
  • Increase the pathetically low $7.25-an-hour federal minimum wage to at least $15.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump served as President for four years. Before that, he was a businessman and game show host.

  • The U.S. economy lost 2.9 million jobs during the Trump administration and the unemployment rate increased from 4.8% to 6.4%.
  • In 2019, President Trump changed the overtime rule requiring employers to only pay overtime to workers making less than $35,568—far less than the $47,000 threshold the Obama administration had proposed. At a recent rally in Erie, PA, he said, “I hated to give overtime. I shouldn’t say this, but I’d get other people in. I wouldn’t pay.”
  • In 2018, Donald Trump issued an executive order that restricted union representatives’ ability to advocate for their public sector union members on the job. (The Biden-Harris administration rescinded this rule.)
  • The Trump administration manipulated a law intended to help the Department of Veterans Affairs improve care for America’s veterans to instead fire thousands of union workers like housekeepers, food service workers and nursing assistants. Stripping away protections for rank-and-file workers at the VA resulted in a 60% rise in firings in the second half of 2017 alone.
  • In his last month in office, Trump issued a rule making it harder for gig workers such as food delivery workers and ride-sharing workers to be counted as employees, preventing them from qualifying for the federal minimum wage and overtime—and the right to join a union.
  • Trump’s anti-labor record was not unique to his time in office. He used nonunion workers on his construction projects and crossed the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) picket line during a 2004 filming of “The Apprentice.”
  • In August 2024, Trump held an online chat with billionaire Tesla/SpaceX founder Elon Musk in which he praised Musk for firing workers who were striking for better pay and benefits. He told Musk, “You’re the greatest!”

Apprenticeship Entrance Exam

The Automotive and Machinist Apprenticeship Program is holding an entrance exam for potential apprentice candidates. This test is for potential apprentices in the Greater Bay Area.

Read More

News

How changes to overtime pay rules may affect workers

In April, the Biden administration finalized a new rule set to make millions more salaried workers eligible for overtime pay in the U.S., marking the largest expansion in federal overtime eligibility in decades. Starting July 1, employers will be required to pay...

Progressives urge Biden administration to crack down on ‘union-busting’ industry

Every year, U.S. employers spend millions of dollars on outside consultants who specialize in breaking up union campaigns. Because much of that work is cloaked in secrecy, progressive groups are urging the Biden administration to crack down and make it more...

Artificial intelligence and labor unions

According to an article in the Yale Journal on Regulation, systems and tools using artificial intelligence (AI) have already revolutionized the workplace. Many of these new technologies— including wearable devices, security cameras, GPS tracking devices and cameras...

Buy Union

Go camping with these union-made brands

Summer is here and that means camping for millions of Americans. If you love the outdoors and can’t wait to pitch a tent (or stay in an air-conditioned RV), we have a list of union-made products for you. Now you can enjoy nature while supporting good union jobs.       S’mores Honey Maid Graham Crackers (BCTGM) Campfire Marshmallows (IBT) Chocolate...

Fast Facts

$600 million

The combined political donations of 50 billionaire families so far in the 2024 election cycle. (More than 2/3 of that money has gone to Republican candidates.)

Americans for Tax Fairness – May, 2024

IAM Videos

Links to videos

Connect With Us

Local 1101
Local 1546
Local 1584
Union Organizer
@union1484