You can contact your union officials at uaw.org and e-mail them to let them know how you feel. Another way might be to pass around a petition in your area and then have your local officials send them on to the national level.
As Americans we should be alarmed at the way that our constitutional right to keep and bear arms is whittled away at. Our country's founders paid a great price to gain us those freedoms, and through the years, Americans have paid a great price to keep them. Don't let some misguided politician throw away the things that we have fought for, and if they want to keep throwing them away, then VOTE THEM OUT!
We can't just sit here and watch our constitution being used like so much waste paper. The Clinton administration has done a lot of damage in the last few years, and our representatives just keep on patting them on the back like they are doing just fine. Sure they have been on the side of the unions on some points, but at what price? If it costs us our basic rights, then the cost is too high.
While you are at it, write to your congressmen and let them know what you think as an individual. Do it while you still have the right. You can find the address of your representatives on the shooting page on this site.
Last month I wrote the above letter to our Union News. It was published, but at the end there was a rebuttal. I would like to address some of the points in the rebuttal.
Since they won't print my letter this time I will have to post it here.
First our union claims that they don't contribute dues dollars to political campaigns. They claim that the only money that goes to campaigns comes from voluntary contributions. While that may be the case on the surface, the union does endorse candidates quite heavily in other ways. When they write articles in the Solidarity paper, and call asking us to vote one way or the other they are using our funds to run the paper and phone campaigns that are telling us to vote for their endorsed candidates. There is a fair amount of verbal and written backing that goes on including phoning people to get out and vote for the endorsed candidates. Not just our union but all unions.
They also stated that they backed candidates based on their positions on issues that concern us as labor, such as "FMLA, striker replacement, OSHA regulations, medical insurance, protecting our jobs from being sent overseas and the list goes on."
FMLA allows you to take time off from your job (up to 6 months I believe) without compensation for family medical reasons. That is nice, but how many of us can take a six month cut in pay while our families medical costs are going crazy. It is better than nothing but who is going to pay the bills while you are off?
Striker replacement? I don't recall any steps being taken to cure this problem. It doesn't seem to be a big issue in Washington.
OSHA regulations, Thank God that they are there.
Medical insurance. We heard a lot of hooie about how that was to be addressed when Clinton took office, but as far as I can see my insurance isn't any better today than it was eight years ago.
Protecting our jobs from being sent overseas. I think that if you check it was a guy named Clinton that signed the NAFTA treaty.
I don't see a lot of positive things happening in Washington, that the union is basing their choice of candidates on. They are good things to try to get, but Washington doesn't seem to be real interested in getting them accomplished. Meanwhile, some of those same politicians have made it their first priority to step on our rights. I think that we need to get the point across to them, and have them concentrate on productive things instead of trying to take away the rights that we already have. Restrictive gun laws will not save any lives. The criminals that the government is trying to protect us from are going to break the new gun laws just like they do the ones on the books right now. We need to enforce the laws that we already have, not pile on more laws that we don't need. Lets get more for our money. Contact your officials and let them know where you stand.
UPDATE!!
I, like a lot of others am guilty of not reading my unions constitution. What I have said above still stands with me, but in the mean time, if you are in the UAW your constitution, in article 16 section 7 says that you don't have to put up with it!! If you send them a registered or certified letter during the 14 days following your union anniversary, explaining what you disagree with as far as their political contributions, they will make it right with you. Get your copy out and check it out for yourself.
THEN DO IT!!
Each year you can request this refund. Each time that they have to refund your money, they will realize that there is someone else that doesn't agree with their brand of politician. If you don't make a stand then they will go on thinking that they speak for all of us,
AND THEY DON'T!!
Drifty
