Andy Tichenor new president of Musicians’ Association of St. Louis Local 2-197 Page 3
Around Town: Insulators Local 1’s Chad Lange Sr. Page 3
Savage Masonry Mailbox joins Bricklayers Local 1 as signatory contractor Page 4
Illinois representatives introduce MINES Act Page 10
Southern Illinois Builders Association summer camp for skilled trades greeted enthusiastically Page 11
By TIM ROWDEN Editor-in-Chief
Washington – Following Vice
President Kamala Harris’ selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, the AFL-CIO announced its enthusiastic support for the Harris–Walz ticket. Other unions quickly followed suit.
“By selecting Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, Kamala Harris chose a principled fighter and Labor champion who will stand up for working people and strengthen this historic ticket,” said AFL-CIO
President Liz Shuler.
“We know that Gov. Walz will be a strong partner in the Harris White House, fighting every day to improve the lives of workers in
communities across America. Gov. Walz isn’t only an ally to the Labor Movement, but also our union brother with a deep commitment to a pro-worker agenda.
“The Labor Movement stands united behind the Harris–Walz ticket, and we are ready to help lead the effort to defeat Donald Trump, JD Vance, and their anti-worker
Project 2025 agenda in November.” ABOUT WALZ
Walz is a former public school teacher and union member who has proven that a pro-worker agenda is a winning agenda, especially in competitive states. In Minnesota, he has delivered on a comprehensive, pro-union legislative package and created the gold standard for state governments aiming to do right by workers.
Like President Joe Biden, Walz walked a picket line with UAW members last year during the union’s Stand Up strike against the Detroit automakers.
Biden picketed with workers at a Ford plant in Wayne County, Mich. Walz walked with workers outside a Stellantis/ FiatChrysler plant in Plymouth, Minn., and has
See WALZ VP page 14
By SHERI GASSAWAY
Assistant Editor
Candidates endorsed by the Missouri AFL-CIO and the St Louis Labor Council fared well in last week’s primary election.
personally thank all our union volunteers that took time out of their schedules to hit the streets for our candidates.”
didn’t lose them all.”
WESLEY BELL
“Overall, we are pleased with the election results,” said Missouri AFLCIO President Jake Hummel. “In several key races, our Labor-endorsed candidate won the day. I want to
John Stiffler, secretary-treasurer of the St. Louis Building & Construction Trades Council, agreed with Hummel that the election was favorable to Labor.
“I think we had a pretty darn successful night,” Stiffler said. “We didn’t win them all, but we
One of the more hotly contested races was the Democratic primary between First District Congresswomen Cori Bush and St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell for the Missouri’s First District Congressional seat.
The Missouri AFL-CIO left that race “open,” taking no position on the candidates. Bell, who was backed by the St. Louis Building and Construction Trades Council, won
the four-way contest by 51 percent. The results set him up for a win in November because the district is heavily Democratic.
Bell said he was deeply honored and humbled by the trust the people of the district have placed in him and added that the victory belongs to every volunteer, every supporter, and every voter who believes in a vision for a better future.
“I am committed to serving the St. Louis region in Congress with integrity, transparency, and See ELECTION RESULTS page 15
By ED FINKELSTEIN Publisher Emeritus
Continuing a decades long tradition, union members and staffers stepped up to volunteer for the National Council of Jewish Women’s (NCJW) 24th annual Back to School! Store, which this year served more than 2,100 children.
On July 30, the union helpers unloaded trailers of brand new backpacks, school supplies, books, coats, hats, gloves, socks, shoes, and personal care items and other essentials for underserved elementary school children throughout the St. Louis Greater Metropolitan area needed to
start the school year with confidence and self-esteem. Other volunteers then created a comprehensive backpack of the various materials.
At a second effort on Aug. 4, union volunteers loaded boxes of filled backpacks into cars for delivery to 36 local agencies who will distribute them to more than 1,100 families.
This annual program of organizing union brothers and sisters to set up the NCJW Store has been a public service effort for many years by Missouri AFL-CIO, spearheaded by President Jack Hummel, initially when he was the Council’s executive secretary-treasurer.
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This year union volunteers included, from United Food & Commercial Workers Local 655, Assistant to the President Laura Kelley, Union Representative Prudence LaFerney;
HEAVY LIFTING – Union volunteers unloaded tons of back-to-school supplies for the Back to School! Store sponsored on Aug. 4 by the National Council of Jewish Women, St. Louis chapter, which provided more than 2,100 children from underserved families what they need on their upcoming first day of school. Part of the team: UFCW Local 655 Assistant to the President Laura Kelley (left) working the Missouri AFL-CIO President Jake Hummel. – Labor Tribune photo (See
6.)
from Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 562, Tom Malecek, Scott Ramshaw, Doug Beck and Tom Madden; from Electrical Workers Local 1,
See SCHOOL page 6
Members of the following unions and councils see page 5 for changes in your notices
(EDITOR’S NOTE: With the Laborendorsed, pro-Labor champion House Minority Leader Crystal Quade winning the Democratic primary for Missouri governor, this interview with her by Missouri AFL-CIO Communications Director Stephen Webber sheds light on why she was endorsed by the Missouri Labor Movement and why she deserves our votes in November to be Missouri’s next governor.)
Why are unions important to you?
I am grateful for Missouri’s Labor unions always having my back, because I’ve always had theirs. I grew up helping my mom at the local diner where she worked, picking up double or triple shifts waitressing to put food on our table.
When I talk to voters across Missouri, I hear them echo experiences I’m all too familiar with. I know what it’s like to struggle putting food on the table or having to figure out which bill you can pay this month and which you’ll have to put off. That’s why I am proudly pro-union, because every worker should make wages that allow them to live with dignity.
I’ve proudly stood shoulder-to-shoulder with our brothers and sisters in Organized Labor at picket lines. I was the only candidate on either side of the aisle to be part of the coalition to defeat the anti-worker, anti-union “right-to-work” law Republicans passed, and I’ve filed legislation to ensure bad actors are held accountable when they prioritize profit over people and put workers in danger.
What are some pro-worker policies you want to advocate for as Governor?
As somebody who has worked closely with Labor throughout my time in the House, I will continue to advocate for strengthening our Labor unions across Missouri.
We need to address the childcare crisis in our state, make sure all our wages are wages that help Missourians thrive, not just survive, and we need to understand not everyone needs a college degree, and our policies in the governor’s office will reflect that.
Additionally, as governor, I’ll put my foot down against anti-worker legislation like paycheck deception and whatever the next attempt at passing “right-to-work” looks like. I’ll restart the prevailing wage report database, prioritize contracts that
invest in Missouri’s workforce, and I’ll hold anti-Labor politicians responsible for their attacks on working Missourians and will continue to support making Missouri a better, safer, and stronger state for working Missourians.
Would you veto ‘right-to-work?’
Absolutely. “Right-to-work” laws strengthen employers’ interests while undercutting the strength of unions and our workers. I was so proud to stand with the thousands of Missourians when we turned in the signatures to stop the legislature from making us a RTW state, and I have been proud to stand against “rightto-work” as a legislator every time they tried to overturn the will of voters.
What’s your favorite thing about Missouri?
Missouri is the Show-Me State. Missourians do not settle for promises about what you will do, if you have no proof of what you’ve done. They don’t accept answers from politicians who change their minds on issues, like “right-to-work,” based on who’s asking the question. Missourians expect results from their leaders, and I look forward to showing every Missourian just how great our state can be.
What is the most important issue (or issues) facing Missouri?
When your state government isn’t investing in helping every Missourian succeed, I think that’s about the biggest problem we could face as a state. The lack of leadership we’ve seen, whether it’s legislators ignoring the will of voters and attempting to overturn “right-to-work” or failing to take down federal funds to feed hungry children over the summer, our state has been failing Missouri families for years.
We need a leader who knows what working families are going through. We need a leader who will invest in things like ensuring broadband access wherever you are in the state or making sure we’re doing everything we can to give Missouri’s children the best education we can by fully funding our schools, paying our teachers and staff, rebuilding our roads and bridges, and expanding childcare across Missouri.
What can union members do to help your campaign?
We need to spread the word to voters as early as possible before Election Day, so we have volunteer opportunities happening right now. There are opportunities to canvas, phone bank, or host a house party. We’re also trying to build our coalition through donations, which can help us reach more voters via television, radio, direct mail, and other print across our state. Visit www.crystalquade.com for more information on how to volunteer or donate.
BY LILY ROBERTS Center for American Progress
Overtime pay increases workers’ paychecks and helps protect their time for personal and family obligations. When workers aren’t eligible for overtime, employers can force them to work 60-to-70-hour workweeks without any extra pay.
While the Biden-Harris administration increased the salary threshold for eligibility to a very modest $43,888, the authoritarian playbook known as Project 2025 proposes decreasing access and giving employers more power to exclude their employees. Project 2025’s far-right vision of overtime eligibility and benefits is designed to confuse and disempower workers. It would put more power in the hands of employers to exploit employees, which is seemingly part of Project 2025’s larger goal: pad corporate bottom lines at the expense of workers.
Project 2025 allows employers to pick and choose time frames to measure work hours.
What Project 2025 says: “Congress should provide flexibility to employers and employees to calculate the overtime period over a longer number of weeks.”
What the research says: Providing employers with less clarity about their wage obligations introduces more opportunities for fraud, abuse, and even honest mistakes. Currently, overtime is calculated weekly, which allows workers to keep track of their time accurately over a shorter time frame and to have more consistent expectations for their schedule. But Project 2025 proposes allowing the employer to choose the time period, giving employees less control of and visibility into their own paychecks.
Overtime eligibility and access are already among the most common forms of wage theft and other violations of the law by employers. From 2013 to 2023, overtime violations accounted for 82 percent of back wages for Fair Labor Standards Act violations—which cover minimum wage, overtime, retaliation, and tip theft by employers. Most violators of these laws face minimal consequences. A system rife with abuse needs clearer guidance and more enforcement, not additional “flexibility” for employers to decide who gets overtime pay and when.
Project 2025 lets employers avoid timeand-a-half pay.
What Project 2025 says: “[Congress should] allow employees in the private sector the ability to choose between receiving timeand-a-half pay or accumulating time-and-ahalf paid time off.”
What the research says: The Pew Research Center finds that nearly half of American workers who have access to paid leave from their employment already take less time off from work than they’re eligible for. While stated reasons for this vary, survey respondents noted pressure to not leave their coworkers with more work, concerns about falling behind, and concerns about losing their job. Since access to paid leave is already most limited for the lowest-paid workers, workers who are eligible for overtime are currently less likely to be eligible for paid leave. And notably, lower-wage workers are disproportionately women and Black workers, who Pew finds to be more likely to describe workplace pressure as a reason for taking less leave.
Jenn Round, director of Rutgers University’s Beyond the Bill program, noted to PolitiFact, a fact-checking publication, that giving employers more power would mean that they could “never allow workers to use their banked PTO, effectively eliminating overtime pay.” Moreover, the idea of redefining the period during which overtime is accrued from one week to several weeks “effectively dismantles the standard workweek.”
PRIORITIZES
Project 2025 explicitly prioritizes the corporate bottom line over workers. What Project 2025 says: “DOL (the Department of Labor) should maintain an overtime threshold that does not punish businesses in lower-cost regions (e.g., the southeast United States).”
What the research says: Tying wage thresholds to regional variations in what businesses prefer to pay their workers is a long-standing conservative approach that codifies preexisting wage inequality. American workers’ wages have consistently been lowest in the South, originating in slavery. This has only been furthered by sharecropping, the development of a tipping system that shifts the burden of paying wages to customers rather than employers, ongoing discrimination, and low union density.
Jenn Round noted to PolitiFact that Project 2025 could be read as proposing different overtime thresholds in different parts of the country, and it’s not clear how many workers that would affect given that Project 2025 does not include details on which regions would be considered “low cost.” Notably, framing the South, in particular, as “low cost” is misleading; and the Economic Policy Institute debunks the premise of “lower-cost regions” as Project 2025’s justification for lower wages. Adjusting each state’s median annual wages for cost-of-living, workers in the South are still paid less than other workers.
MILLIONS FEWER WORKERS WOULD GET OVERTIME
Project 2025 contends that millions fewer workers should get overtime pay.
What Project 2025 says: “The Trump-era threshold is high enough to capture most line workers in lower-cost regions.” What the research says: The Trump administration’s overtime threshold was only $35,568 a year, or $684 per week. While Project 2025 does not provide a citation for its claim that this amount covers most line workers, analysis
O’FALLON, MO – Heat & Frost Insulators Local 1’s Chad Lange Sr., a 25-year union member, insulates the supply air ductwork on a brand new First Community Credit Union here. We know our union members are out there working hard, often times from vantage points rarely seen. Whether it’s you or your co-worker on the job or a beautiful sunrise from atop a high-rise building, we want to see it! To be included in an upcoming Around Town, send your photo and information to Assistant Editor Sheri Gassaway at sheri@labortribune.com or via text at 314-640-6047.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Staff Senate is offering a scholarship for union members and their families.
The University Staff Senate serves as custodian for the SIUE Faculty for Collective Bargaining Scholarship, which totals $500.
To be eligible, the applicant must be either a Labor union member, or the child, grandchild, or spouse of a Labor union member. This applies to all the Labor unions at SIUE. Students must meet SIUE’s admission requirements and are enrolled for full-time undergraduate study.
If the applicant has fewer than 12 college semester hours earned, they must have an ACT composite score of 19 or above, and a high school GPA of 2.5 on a 4-point scale. Applicants with 12 or more hours earned must have completed at least one term as a full-time college student with a college GPA of 2.5.
The award is directly applied to the student’s university account. The application includes an essay written by the applicant, and the committee also considers honors and awards, work history, co-curricular activities and volunteerism.
Trumpet player hopes to increase diversity of the union
Principal trumpet player Andy Tichenor is the new president of the Musicians’ Association of St. Louis Local 2-197.
Tichenor, who plays for The Muny theatre orchestra, previously served as vice president of the union. He took the reigns from Mike Buerk, who resigned in July due to health problems. Buerk took the job in January after the passing of longtime president Local 2-197 president Vicky Smolik.
‘PROUD TO SERVE’
“I’m proud to serve the members of Local 2-197” said Tichenor. “I’m looking forward to strengthening the union and its membership and increasing the number of collective bargaining agreements we have in the greater St. Louis area.”
Tichenor, of Edwardsville, is a
ANDY TICHENOR, a principal trumpet player for The Muny, is the new president of Musicians’ Association of St. Louis Local 2-197. One of his goals is to increase diversity in the union.
second generation Local 2-197 member who followed in the footsteps of his father Trebor Tichenor, who played piano. Tichenor has been in the St. Louis music business since 1991 and graduated from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville
with a degree in trumpet performance.
‘INCREASE DIVERSITY’
“One of my goals moving forward is to increase the diversity of the union,” Tichenor said. “I feel like the African-American community is underrepresented. We’ve already started talking about ways we can accomplish that.”
With Tichenor taking over as president of the union, singer/ violinist Nikki Glen will serve as vice president and percussionist Adam Kopff will serve as secretarytreasurer. Tichenor, Glenn and Kopff will each serve three-year terms.
Local 2-197 has been serving the St. Louis area musicians since 1862 and continues to be an effective advocate for musicians’ rights in the workplace be that a nightclub, a symphony stage, in a recording studio or on tour. For more information, visit masl2197.org
$5 Fight
To help out-of-work union members, families forthe
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brick pizza ovens and planters. It also specializes in the exterior masonry restoration and clean-up of homes and businesses.
Savage retired from Local 1 as a business representative in 2023, but said he still enjoys the work and the
THE UNION COMPANY offers predesigned and custom-built masonry mailboxes and other masonry projects such as custom built fireplaces, brick pizza ovens and planters. It also specializes in the exterior masonry restoration and clean up of homes and businesses.
industry. Savage’s daughters, Hannah Savage and Amanda Hanstead, run the business and hire Savage, a member of Local 1, to do the physical work.
‘TRULY LOVE THE INDUSTRY’
“I truly love the industry and if you enjoy what you are doing, it’s not like work,” Savage said. “This career has given me a comfortable lifestyle, and I want to continue that tradition for myself and my family.”
Hanstead is in her last semester studying clinical psychology and her sister Hannah is a nurse. The family meets for dinner each week, discusses projects and maps out their plans to do the work.
‘FUN BLESSING’
“Dad presented us with the idea for the company,” said Hanstead. “He has taught us the many elements of the work, and it’s been such a fun blessing to be able to work together. We love it.” Savage is a second generation union member. His father was a union electrician.
‘COOL EXPERIENCE’
“We grew up hearing Dad’s stories, and he would take us to the job sites,” said Hannah Savage. “It‘s been a really cool experience to be able to work with my dad.”
For more information on the company, visit savagemasonrymailbox.com or call 314-800-6068.
AUGUST 12
1881 – The national Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners is founded in Chicago in a gathering of 36 carpenters from 11 cities.
1898 – Coal company guards kill seven, wound 40 striking miners who are trying to stop scabs, Virden, Ill.
1955 – Teamsters official William Grami is kidnapped, bound and beaten near Sebastopol, Calif. He was leading a drive to organize apple plant workers in the area.
1992 – The North American Free Trade Agreement — NAFTA — is concluded between the United States, Canada and Mexico, to take effect in January 1994, despite protests from Labor, environmental and human rights groups.
1994 – What was to become a 232day strike by major league baseball players over owners’ demands for team salary caps began on this day; 938 games were cancelled.
AUGUST 13
1936 – Newspaper Guild members begin three-month strike of Hearstowned Seattle Post-Intelligencer , shutting the publication down in their successful fight for union recognition.
1963 – Civil rights leader and union president A. Philip Randolph strongly protests the AFL-CIO Executive Council’s failure to endorse the Aug. 28 “March on Washington.”
1979 – Five construction work-
ers are killed, 16 injured when the uncompleted roof of the Rosemont (Ill.) Horizon arena collapses.
AUGUST 14
1935 – President Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act, providing, for the first time ever, guaranteed income for retirees and creating a system of unemployment benefits.
1980 – Members of the upstart Polish union Solidarity seize the Lenin shipyard in Gdansk. Sixteen days later the government officially recognizes the union. Many consider the event the beginning of the end for the Iron Curtain.
AUGUST 15
1914 – The Panama Canal opens after 33 years of construction and an estimated 22,000 worker deaths, mostly caused by malaria and yellow fever. The 51-mile canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
1971 – President Richard M. Nixon announces a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents in an attempt to combat inflation.
1989 – Gerry Horgan, chief steward of CWA Local 1103 and NYNEX striker in Valhalla, N.Y., is struck on the picket line by a car driven by the daughter of a plant manager and dies the following day. What was to become a four-month strike over healthcare benefits was in its second week.
2008 – Eight automotive department employees at a Walmart near
Ottawa won an arbitrator-imposed contract after voting for UFCW representation, becoming the giant retailer’s only location in North America with a collective bargaining agreement. Two months later the company closed the department.
AUGUST 16
1894 – George Meany, plumber, first AFL-CIO president, born in City Island, Bronx. In his official biography, George Meany and His Times, he said he had “never walked a picket line in his life.” He also said he took part in only one strike (against the United States Government to get higher pay for plumbers on welfare jobs). Yet, he also firmly said that “You only make progress by fighting for progress.” Meany served as secretary-treasurer of the AFL from 1940 to 1952, succeeded as president of the AFL, and then continued as president of the AFLCIO following the historic merger in 1955 until retiring in 1979.
1937 – Congress passes the National Apprenticeship Act, establishing a national advisory committee to research and draft regulations establishing minimum standards for apprenticeship programs. It was later amended to permit the Labor Department to issue regulations protecting the health, safety and general welfare of apprentices, and to encourage the use of contracts in their hiring and employment.
AUGUST 17
1918 – IWW War Trials in Chicago, 95 go to prison for up to 20 years.
1985 – Year-long Hormel meatpackers’ strike begins in Austin, Minn.
AUGUST 18
1927 – Radio station WEVD,
Trump claims Walz was never white before
Philadelphia — Responding to Vice President Harris’s choice of Tim Walz as her running mate, Donald J. Trump claimed that the Minnesota governor “was never white before.”
“I saw him on television many, many times, and, quite frankly, he was never white,” Trump said. “Then, he suddenly became white.” Hinting that “there’s something going on,” Trump said that Walz’s “last-minute decision to become white” was “something that should be looked into.”
Asked what Walz was before he became white, Trump responded, “I think Walz is some kind of a dance. So what is he, white or a dance? I respect either one, but he obviously doesn’t.”
School From page 1
Tim Cleveland, Doug Boyher and Frank Valleroy; from MidAmerica Carpenters Regional Council, Josh Brunkhorst, Jason Spieckerman and Mark Dalton; and from the Missouri AFL-CIO President Jake Hummel, Levi Lovell and Tim Hummel. Also helping – Dan, Brian and Corey Beck.
In explaining the unions support of this effort, Hummel noted that the program is designed to alleviate the financial burden underserved families face as they prepare to send their children to school.
“The lack of supplies and personal items is a primary barrier to attending school,” Hummel said. “It’s a great confidence boost for the kids knowing they have the essentials to succeed. Being prepared
for school instills a joy of learning in students. We’re proud to be able to lend a helping hand.”
He added: “NCJW was a tremendous partner to us during our ‘right-to-work’ fight and has stood by our members ever since.”
Since the first Back to School! Store in 2000, NCJW’s program has served more than 30,000 children in our community.
“Children leave the Back to School! Store with the supplies they will need to focus all of their attention on learning and with increased self-esteem and excitement about the first day of school,” said NCJW Executive Director Ellen Alper. “We deeply appreciate the unions’ continuing support of this vital community project.”
Color blindness — or more accurately, poor or deficient color vision — is an inability to see the difference between certain colors. Though many people commonly use the term “color blind” for this condition, true color blindness — in which everything is seen in shades of black and white — is rare.
Color blindness is usually inherited, and men are more likely to be born with it. Most people with color blindness can’t distinguish between certain shades of red and green. Less commonly, people with color blindness can’t distinguish between shades of blue and yellow.
WHAT CAUSES COLOR BLINDNESS?
In the retina, there are two types of cells that detect light. They are called rods and cones. Rods detect only light and dark and are very sensitive to low light levels. Cone
cells detect color and are concentrated near the center of your vision. There are three types of cones that see color: red, green and blue. The brain uses input from these cone cells to determine our color perception.
Color blindness can happen when one or more of the color cone cells are absent, not working, or detect a different color than normal. Severe color blindness occurs when all three cone cells are absent. Mild color blindness happens when all three cone cells are present but one cone cell does not work right. It detects a different color than normal.
There are different degrees of color blindness. Some people with mild color deficiencies can see colors normally in good light but have difficulty in dim light. Others cannot distinguish certain colors in any light. The most severe form of color blindness, in which everything is seen in shades of gray, is uncommon. Color blindness usually affects both eyes equally and remains stable throughout life.
Most people with color blindness are born with it. This is called a congenital condition. Congenital
color vision defects usually pass from mother to son. These defects are due to partial or complete lack of cones in the retina. Color vision defects from disease are less understood than congenital color vision problems. Disease-specific color blindness often affects both eyes differently and usually gets worse over time. Acquired color vision loss can be the result of damage to the retina or optic nerve.
Men are at much higher risk for being born with color blindness than women, who seldom have
the problem. An estimated one in 10 males has some form of color deficiency. Color blindness is more common among men of Northern European descent.
There is no treatment for congenital color blindness. It usually does not cause any significant disability. However, there are special contact lenses and glasses that may help. An ophthalmologist can treat acquired forms of color blindness. He or she will address the underlying condition or drug that caused the problem.
some of the most iconic American cars, including the Starfire, 4-4-2 and Toronado. When it was shut down in 2004, Oldsmobile was the oldest surviving American car company and the fifth oldest on the world.
But its biggest legacy was the Oldsmobile 88.
Ransom E. Olds started making trucks in 1904, four years before his company was acquired by General Motors. Olds was a pioneer of the American automotive industry, after whom the Oldsmobile and REO
brands were named. Truck production came to a halt in 1908, but the Oldsmobile brand re-entered the market from 1918 to 1924 and even began making trucks again in 1936, and ceased again in 1939.
Fast-forward to the post-war years. Up to that time, General Motors naming conventions for all divisions used alphanumeric designations that changed every year. For example, there was the 1930 Olds F-30. Starting after World
War II, Oldsmobile changed their designations so that the first number was the chassis platform while the second number signified how many cylinders. In 1949 Oldsmobile introduced the 88, with 8 representing Oldsmobile’s new “B” platform and the other 8 the engine type.
Developed to fill the gap between the entry level 76 and the top-ofthe-line 98, the Oldsmobile 88 was the automaker’s mid-range model, nicer and more powerful than the base Olds 76, but not as elegant as the top-of-the-line Olds 98. The 88 represented a sweet spot – it came equipped with the powerful 303-cubic-inch “Rocket 88” engine, one of the first modern V-8s with overhead valves, and a whopping 135 horsepower. The Olds 76 had a less powerful six-cylinder motor, while
the 98 was bigger and heavier, making the 88 the car of choice for those who wanted to go fast, because it had the automaker’s best engine without all the weight of the top model.
The 88’s B-body platform and came in at 202 inches long, similar in size to the 76 but 10 inches shorter than the 98. Oldsmobile entered 1949 offering three full-size vehicles with a choice of two-door hardtop, twodoor coupe, four-door sedan and four-door station wagon.
The revolutionary Rocket V-8, reflecting America’s fascination with space travel, proved the demise of the six-cylinder 76 line. For 1951, the 88 became the entry-level model, which meant that all Oldsmobiles
were now powered by Rocket V-8s. The engine was a brand-new design. Engineered by Charles Kettering, the first-generation Rocket originally displaced 303 cubic inches (5.0 liters) and featured hydraulic lifters, an oversquare bore/stroke ratio (meaning the bore diameter of an engine’s cylinders is larger than the stroke length), a counterweighted forged crankshaft, aluminum pistons, and a dual-plane intake manifold.
Although it wasn’t advertised as a performance car, the first-gen Oldsmobile 88 is, without doubt, the car that pioneered the formula that led to the birth of the muscle car. The mill debuted with a two-barrel carburetor and 135 horsepower. In comparison, Ford’s popular flathead V-8 was generating only 100 standard horses. The Rocket V-8 was also good for a healthy 253 pound-feet of torque. It immediately caught on with consumers, especially young soldiers used to hot-rodding in rebuilt flathead-8 jalopies. From 1950 until 1974, the 88 was the division’s most profitable line.
The 88 moniker was applied to a large number of Olds models over the years — Super, Golden Rocket, Dynamic, Jetstar, Delta, Delmont, Starfire, Holiday, LS, LSS, Celebrity, and Royale. “Fiesta” appeared on some station wagons in the 1950s and 1960s. And here’s some trivia: the name was more commonly shown as numerals in the earlier years (“Delta 88” for example) and was changed to spell out “Eighty Eight” starting in 1989, perhaps to make it seem more elegant.
The first-generation Olds 88 remained in production until 1953. In 1952, Oldsmobile introduced a “Super 88” model with a four-barrel carburetor version of the Rocket 88,
rated at 160 hp.
‘MAKE A DATE WITH A ROCKET 88’
The Rocket-powered Olds also inspired the popular 1950s slogan “Make a Date with a Rocket 88,” as well as the song “Rocket 88.” Recorded in Memphis by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, the single reached No. 1 on the 1951 Billboard R&B chart and is often considered the first rock and roll record.
So, how quick was the Rocket 88? It could do the quarter-mile in about 18 seconds.
Not exactly mind-blowing, but it was enough to turn the 88 into the car to beat on the NASCAR circuit until the Hudson Hornet came along. The 88’s combination of a large, powerful engine and light body is considered to have made it the first true muscle car. It was one of the fastest cars in America in the early 1950s and won many races, including 10 out of 19 NASCAR races in 1950.
The speed and power of the Olds 88 not only made it a favorite of racers, it was also the vehicle of choice for some in the illegal liquor industry, too, as it was faster than most anything else on the road and had ample space for gallon jugs of moonshine. NASCAR Hall of Famer Junior Johnson once said the Olds 88 was his favorite car to take “whiskey trippin,” as there was nothing on the road that could catch it.
Even though the early 1950s put an end to the 88’s success on the oval track, the nameplate soldiered on for a whopping five decades. The final Olds 88 was built in 1999, just five years before General Motors retired the Oldsmobile brand.
And while the 88 became history, the Rocket V-8 engine survived in var-
ious forms until 1990. Turbocharged in the early 1960s and redesigned in 1964, the Rocket V-8 powered every Oldsmobile nameplate out there and even Cadillacs, Buicks and Pontiacs. At various times in its existence, Oldsmobile was able to pass as a luxury vehicle manufacturer. But most of the time, GM used Oldsmobile to fill the middle ground above Chevrolet and Pontiac and below Buick and Cadillac.
The Rocket V-8 also powered the Oldsmobile Cutlass, offered from 1961 to 1999. The Cutlass was America’s best-selling car throughout the 1970s and was GM’s first turbocharged model. Its features included a four-door hardtop sedan with a 320-hp, 330-cubic-inch “Jetfire” Rocket V-8 engine. The Cutlass got a 425-cubic-inch engine as an option from 1966 to 1967.
And let’s not forget the Oldsmobile 98, the brand’s longest-standing flagship. The fifth-generation model introduced in 1957 is considered by many as a worthy rival to the more luxurious Cadillac Series 62, with many premium features for the era. In 1958, the fifth-gen’s final year, Oldsmobile added a padded dashboard (this was before shoulder-harness seatbelts); front and rear floor mats; deluxe steering wheel; wheel trim rings; rear seat armrests; and hydraulic window, seat, and top controls on convertibles — plus an electric clock.
As consumer preferences shifted, Oldsmobile lost its appeal to younger generations. On April 29, 2004, after 106 years, the last Oldsmobile to come off the assembly line at the Lansing Car Assembly plant in Michigan. It was a compact Alero GLS Final 500 Collector’s Edition. The dark cherry metallic sedan was signed by UAW workers on the line.
(Contact Kevin Weaks at kweaks@ labortribune.com.)
The online UMSL Labor Studies Program gives current and future union leaders, representatives and activists the background and skills needed to deal with the changing workplace and economy.
With a grounding in history, political science, law and economics, students have the opportunity to develop skills of analysis, leadership and organizing that will provide an equal footing with counterparts in the corporate and political world. Completion of the program earns 18 hours toward a degree and a Certificate in Labor Studies.
Courses Offered this Fall:
• Pol Sci 3430, Labor and Community Leadership
• Pol Sci 2450, Labor, Work, Society and Politics
For more information on how to register, please contact Doug Swanson, the UMSL Labor Studies coordinator at (314) 516-6698 or swansondj@missouri.edu.
Two Illinois Congressmen joined with legislators from West Virginia and Pennsylvania to propose more transparency in the government’s efforts to prevent coal mine collapses.
U.S. Reps. Nikki Budzinski and Mike Bost – a Democrat and Republican working together – introduced the Monitoring, Investigating, Navigating and Explaining Subsidence (MINES) Act with U.S. Reps. Alex Mooney (R-W.V.) and Matt Cart-
wright (D-Penn.) on July 25.
The bill would require the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Surfacing Mining Reclamation and Enforcement to provide a report to Congress on its efforts to prevent subsidence and deal with the economic consequences of coal mine collapses.
Budzinski said that a year after a mine collapsed underneath a Belleville, Ill. grocery store, the store
remains closed and local residents struggle to access nutritious food – a “food desert” problem that plagues much of the region.
“From store, school and road closures to the displacement of residents from their homes, these events can be devastating,” Budzinski
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said. “With millions of Americans living in close proximity to abandoned mines – including many of my constituents – it’s critical that we improve our understanding of how to prevent the subsidence of coal mines and make our communities more resilient in the aftermath.”
Budzinski’s joint statement with Bost, Mooney and Cartwright said there are hundreds of thousands of acres of abandoned coal mines in the U.S. In addition to the grocery store in Belleville, mine subsidence has displaced families in Albers, Ill. when the foundations
of their homes were cracked and destroyed. In Fairmont, W.V., local organizations have had to pay to repair sinkholes caused by mine subsidence, and Luzerne, Penn. saw homes evacuated and roads closed due to collapsing mines.
GORDON MOORE PARK
Most recently, a massive sinkhole suddenly collapsed half a soccer field at Gordon Moore Park, not far from the Workers’ Memorial managed by the Greater Madison County Federation of Labor. No workers were injured in the collapse, associated with mining by New Frontier Materials.
ELIZABETH DONALD
Illinois Correspondent
They might be in high school, but last month they got their hands on actual wiring in practice for the skilled trades.
The Southern Illinois Builders Association (SIBA) launched its summer camp for skilled trades in late July, bringing high school students to the various building trades locals in Metro East Illinois for hands-on experience.
“Skilled trades offer a wealth of employment opportunities for our youth,” said Donna Richter, CEO of SIBA. “By providing these students with real-world experiences, we hope to ignite a passion for careers that are not only rewarding, but also essential to our community’s infrastructure and growth.”
Each day the students were bused to different schools to try their hands at skilled trades, courtesy of the Southern Illinois Construction Advancement Program. Participating groups included Boilermakers Local 363, Bricklayers Local 8, Operating Engineers Local 520, Electricians Local 309, Ironworkers Local 392, Sheet Metal Workers 268 Steamfitters Local 439 and Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council.
The program gave approximately 20 students from Triad, Wesclin, Lebanon, Cahokia, Mascoutah and
residential buildings.
IBEW LOCAL 309
At one such session hosted at IBEW Local 309’s union training center in Collinsville, Ill., electrician Bryce Peek helped two students practice rewiring an electrical board in pairs, introducing them to the types of electrical panels they might find in an average house.
In another session, instructors demonstrated the increasingly popular solar panels found on many
But the training wasn’t just about wires and tools. The instructors also gave them a view of the mechanics of the job and how the profession works, the best ways to find work as an electrician and how the union helps to connect workers with jobs.
“The entire U.S. is electric, and they need workers,” said Stephen Erspamer as he showed a variety of solar panels to the students. Erspamer is an instructor for the inside wireman apprenticeship program for IBEW 309.
Besides summer camp, SIBA
Springfield, IL – Thousands of Illinois youth will be able to pursue careers operating heavy machinery, under a new federal grant program announced Wednesday aimed at addressing a critical workforce shortage.
U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski joined officials with the Youth Workforce Development Foundation (YWDF), affiliated with SkillsUSA Illinois, and the Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) on July 31, at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield to announce nearly $8 million in funding through the Apprenticeships Builds America federal program.
The Biden Administration announced the grant in July as part of more than $244 million being distributed through the U.S. Department of Labor to help expand the Registered Apprenticeship system. The heavy equipment supply chain is critical to the national economy but workforce shortages in diesel technicians and heavy equipment operators are expected to exceed from 24,000 to 42,000 within a decade with retirements and career changes.
In its successful request for funding, the Youth Workforce Development Foundation and AED noted high costs and specialized
skill sets limit high schools’ ability to offer heavy equipment operator and diesel equipment technology training programs.
The two groups will work in Illinois to help schools provide the necessary heavy equipment training programs. They also will support career-focused Industry Pathways events, where students receive hands-on instruction and work on the diesel and heavy equipment with industry companies and laborers. The events help employers meet students interested in the field and develop relationships for youth-focused apprenticeships that might lead to longer-term careers.
One of the key partners of this grant will be SkillsUSA Illinois, Inc., a state association focused on ensuring the future of skilled trade professionals. The funds will focus on enhancing SkillsUSA chapter programs and connecting program graduates to career opportunities.
YWDF and AED credit Rep. Budzinski’s office for playing an important role in helping secure the funding opportunity. They also will be working to recruit women and minorities into the heavy equipment operator field while marketing the career-focused training program to thousands of students.
‘STUDENTS ARE READY’
“We know from our successful career pathways events and competitions, and our work in schools across Illinois throughout the year, students are ready for success in careers that don’t require a four-year college degree. But they first need to know what it will take to prepare for them,” said Eric Hill, CEO of the Youth Workforce Development Foundation.
“This exciting partnership with AED will help turn on more young people to well-paying careers in an industry that needs new talent. We thank Rep. Budzinski and her team, and the dedicated educators at Lincoln Land Community College, for helping support this new pipeline for youth apprenticeships that will go a long way to building a stronger future for our state.”
For more on the Youth Workforce Development Foundation, visit: www.ywdf.org
of American Community Survey data collected in 2022 shows that slightly less than half of Southern nonmanagerial workers earned below that threshold, excluding self-employed workers, members of the armed forces, and workers under 16.
Wages, especially for those earning the least, have been rising at a pace exceeding inflation, indicating that while more recent data are not available, it is likely that the Trumpera threshold—which was not proposed to index to inflation—covers even fewer workers now than it did in 2021 and 2022.
It is important to note that the practice of excluding workers from
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overtime eligibility due to managerial status — including when that status is a misnomer — is commonly abused by employers, so defining employees as managerial or nonmanagerial is likely undercounting those who should be eligible for overtime.
Researchers observed that between 2010 and 2018, there was a 485 percent increase in the use of a managerial title for positions just above the threshold for overtime eligibility, with job titles—such as “front desk manager” in lieu of “receptionist”—fraudulently providing cover for overtime eligibility exclusion.
Moreover, the study found that worker power and legal enforce-
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Hall, 45 Worthington Access Dr, Maryland Heights, MO 63043. Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 St. Louis Area Regular Monthly Meeting: Fourth Tuesday of each month, 6 p.m., Grand Hall, 2319 Chouteau Avenue, 63103 St. Louis Area Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee Meeting: Third Monday of each month, 5 p.m., Grand Hall, 2319 Chouteau Avenue, 63103 South East MO Area Monthly Informational Meeting: Last Thursday of each month, 7 p.m., Communication Workers Hall, 1131 N. Kingshighway, Suite 2C, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701
Central MO Area Monthly Informational Meeting: Last Wednesday of each month, 7 p.m., Labor Temple, 209 Flora Ave, Jefferson City 65101.
Sprinkler Fitters and Apprentices Local 268 Regular meetings at 5 p.m. second Thursday of month at the Union Hall, 1544 S. Third St., St. Louis, MO 63104.
St. Louis Theatrical Brotherhood Local 6
I.A.T.S.E. Regular monthly meetings are held on the first Tuesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. at 1611 S. Broadway.
Teamsters Joint Council 13
Teamsters Local 688 4349 Woodson Rd, St. Louis, MO 63134
Tile-Marble Setters & Finishers, Mosaic & Terrazzo Workers & Finishers Local 18 MO Meets at 5:30 p.m. the first Wednesday of the month at ADC Union Hall, 1670 Fenpark, Fenton, MO 63026. SPECIAL NOTICE: OFFICERS NOMINATION MEETING, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, at ADC Hall, 1670 Fenpark, Fenton, MO 63026.
United Food & Commercial Workers Local 655 Office Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:10 p.m. — Monday through Friday. Closed Saturdays and Sundays. 300 Weidman Rd., Ballwin, MO.
Retirees’ Club: The UFCW Local 655 Retirees’ Club meets at the Local 655 Union Hall, 300 Weidman Rd., Ballwin, on the second Tuesday of each month at 10:00 a.m. Regular Quarterly Business Meetings of the Local: Effective January 1, 2020, The Regular Quarterly Business Meetings of UFCW Local 655 will be on the third Monday of February, May, August, and November at 7 p.m. The meetings are held at the Local 655 Union Hall. You can also view a live stream of our Quarterly Membership Meetings on our Facebook page, www. facebook.com/UFCW655
UFCW Meat, Deli & Seafood Local 88 Office: 5730 Elizabeth Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110. Phone: (314) 644-6328.
United Media Guild Local 36047 Executive board meetings are held at 6:30 p.m. on the second Thursday at the TNG-CWA Local 36047 office, Room 1040 at 1015 Locust St., St. Louis. Utility Workers Local 335 74 Woodstream, Moscow Mills, MO 63362
ATTEND YOUR LOCAL UNION MEETINGS
ment helped create and enforce clearer standards for overtime eligibility: In states where laws protect fewer worker rights, strategic inflated titles were at least 53 percent more frequent.
An egregious and consistent example of this practice is that retail chains may give floor staff nominal promotions to “manager” with minimal managerial work involved. This has been a widespread practice at dollar store chains, where “managers” stock shelves, clean, and run cash registers for 60 to 80
hours a week without a meaningful raise from non-manager positions that receive 40 hours a week plus overtime. This abuse has been repeatedly exposed by journalists and targeted for enforcement.
Providing employers with more power in an overtime system already rife with employer-side abuse may be the goal of Project 2025, but it would be extremely harmful for workers. This is just one example of how Project 2025 would create a system that dismantles the checks and balances designed to protect
Americans and their livelihoods. (Lily Roberts is managing director for Inclusive Growth at the Center for American Progress (CAP). This article is part of a series exposing how the sweeping Project 2025 policy agenda would harm all Americans. This new authoritarian playbook, published by the Heritage Foundation, would destroy the 250-year-old system of checks and balances upon which U.S. democracy has relied and give far-right politicians, judges, and corporations more control over Americans’ lives.)
walked numerous other picket lines in the state.
As governor of Minnesota, Walz has enacted some of the most proworker packages of legislation of any state in the country, including laws to:
• Guarantee paid family and medical leave and mandate paid sick days.
• Prohibit noncompete clauses.
• Bar employers from holding antiunion captive audience meetings.
• Strengthen protections for meatpacking workers and Amazon warehouse employees.
• Strengthen the collective bargaining power of teachers’ unions, including allowing bargaining over educator-to-student classroom ratios.
• Create a statewide council to improve conditions for nursing home workers.
In addition, Walz also:
• Reached a historic deal with Uber and Lyft that amounts to a 20 percent increase in driver pay and provides statewide wage and worker standards, even in the face of threats from Uber and Lyft to end service in Minnesota.
• Invested $2.6 billion in muchneeded infrastructure projects that
create good, family-supporting jobs that pay prevailing wages.
• Issued Executive Order 23-07, which established the Governor’s Committee on the Compensation, Wellbeing, and Fair Treatment of Transportation Network Company Drivers.
Walz was quickly endorsed by the 1.8 million-member American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which noted his educational and Labor background before entering politics, and the three million member National Education Association (NEA)
Walz was a longtime social studies teacher in Mankato, Minn., and a member of Education Minnesota, the AFT and the National Education Association.
for Congress and governor, and for good reason: He has provided record funding for public education, protected reproductive rights, and expanded collective bargaining, affordable child care and paid family and medical leave. And he did it with the slimmest of majorities.”
Weingarten speculated that maybe Walz has been so successful because he’s a teacher. “Think about how incredible it would be to have someone with such deep understanding of our schools serving as vice president,” she said.
Weingarten also noted the contrast between Walz and former president Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance.
schools, Trump and Vance want to cut funds for poor kids, Head Start and food programs and pass voucher programs that take money from public schools.”
The 820,000-member International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) also praised Harris’ selection of Walz.
the state.
“By choosing Gov. Walz as her running mate, Kamala Harris proves that she is committed to continuing President Biden’s pro-union legacy, and the IBEW is committed to doing whatever we can to help them win this November.”
‘NO STRANGER TO LABOR’
“Tim Walz has been a great governor, and he will be a great vice president.” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “He is an inspired choice. We supported him when he ran
“The contrast couldn’t be clearer,” she said. “Tim Walz is a smalltown schoolteacher and military guy who has consistently given back to his community. He embraces the goodness of America and believes in being kind and helping those around you. While Walz taught high school, JD Vance was working as a venture capitalist — gambling with investments and more concerned with Silicon Valley profits than how to help his community. While Walz has increased funding for public
“Gov. Tim Walz has been a union member and understands working people and their struggles to his core,” IBEW International President Kenneth W. Cooper said.
“In Congress and as governor, he has been a steadfast ally of Organized Labor and the IBEW, and we could not be more pleased that Vice President Harris selected him as her running mate.
“Gov. Walz is a strong supporter of collective bargaining rights and has built a partnership with Organized Labor that is strengthening Minnesota’s Middle Class and getting results for communities across
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National President Everett Kelley applauded Harris’ choice saying it cemented her commitment to the Labor Movement and bettering the lives of working families across the country.
AFGE represents 750,000 federal and D.C. government workers.
“Governor Walz is no stranger to Labor,” Kelley said, adding his decades of experience as an Army National Guard officer, a teacher, and a union member as exemplify his dedication to public service.
“Governor Walz is a man of action who has a history of bringing divided government together to accomplish practical things for the people of Minnesota. We know that he will bring that same fight into the White House,” Kelley said.
“AFGE enthusiastically supports the Harris-Walz ticket, and we look forward to helping elect this historic ticket in November.”
“Tim Walz has been one of the most effective proLabor governors in the entire country,” said Claude Cummings, president of the 700,000-member Communications Workers of America (CWA) “With the selection of Governor Walz as her running mate, Vice President Harris has made clear that the Harris-Walz administration will fight to empower the working class and our unions.
“Governor Walz has consistently championed the rights of workers and a brighter future for working families,” Cummings said. “Our members are ready and enthusiastic to elect the Harris-Walz administration — two leaders who have walked picket lines, given CWA members a seat at the table, and stood shoulderto-shoulder with us in our work to build power for working people.”
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dedication,” Bell said in accepting the nomination.
“Together, we will tackle the challenges ahead and build a community where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. To all St. Louisans, in the City and County –whether you voted for me or not – I look forward to earning your support and your trust and making you proud in the weeks, months and years ahead.”
QUADE, KEHOE
In the primary election for governor, the Missouri AFL-CIO endorsed House Minority Floor Leader Rep. Crystal Quade on the Democratic ticket and Mike Kehoe on the Republican ticket. Quade and
Kehoe will face off in the governor’s race in November.
Quade said she was proud of the support the campaign has received.
“I look forward to continue earning that support by spreading our message in every corner of our state: Missourians deserve a governor who will fight for working families, a leader who will restore our rights, not strip us of them. Missourians are sick of the extremism, sick of the government overreach of their rights. Throughout my career as minority leader, I’ve been a champion of reproductive freedom and access to abortion, I’ve fought for working families, and as governor, I’ll never stop fighting until we’ve made Mis-
To the Labor Tribune Weekly. You Don’t Know What You Are Missing!
souri the best state to live, work, start a business, and raise a family because Missourians working double shifts today have children who need to beat the odds tomorrow.”
Kehoe said, “Our victory last night showed that hard work still pays off. That what you do is more important than what you say. And we proved once again that the American Dream is alive and well. As governor, I plan to get things
done for the people of Missouri –and there is so much to do. Let’s get to work!”
LUCAS KUNCE
In the primary for U.S. Senate, Marine veteran Lucas Kunce, the Missouri AFL-CIO-endorsed candidate, handily won the four-way race for the Democratic nomination with 67 percent of the vote. He will face off against incumbent Republican
Sen. Josh Hawley in November. “I’m so humbled by the trust and support you, and so many across Missouri, have poured into this movement,” Kunce said in a statement. “Together, we’re going to defeat Hawley and flip this U.S. Senate seat on Nov. 5.”
Targets in 5-stand shotgun shooting imitate the flight patterns of popular game birds. Shooters rotate through five stations where clay targets can fly left and right, toward, and away and at different angles and speeds – even bounce on the ground.
Both MDC shooting ranges in the St. Louis region are hosting 5-stand at the following times through Aug. 31:
August A. Busch
5-stand is excellent prep for game bird hunting and can sharpen your shotgun skills.
$5 per round, cash or check only. Includes clay birds; eye and ear protection available.
No reservations, first come first served.
Visit mdc.mo.gov/shootingranges to learn more.
By DAVID A. COOK President
This time of year, particularly during campaign season, I find myself thinking a lot about the idea of service to others. There’s a lot of reasons it’s on my mind.
Next month, we’ll hold our regular fundraiser benefitting Faces of our Children, a nationwide non-profit that works to diagnose, treat and cure sickle cell anemia. Later this year, we’ll hold our annual fundraiser benefitting the UFCW Charitable Foundation, which donates money and resources across the country for a variety of causes.
I think about service every time a new batch of stewards is trained at our union hall, knowing that good shop stewards do what they do for the good of their coworkers and their union. I think about service when I watch ads for politicians on TV. Like most of you, I often find myself wondering which of these people has some fundamental belief in public service, and which of these people is merely seeking power and wealth.
Reasonable voters can disagree on which politicians have their best interests at heart, or who at least have selfless motivations. Once in a while though, there are those individuals whose motives are so clear, whose flaws are so pronounced and whose nature is so clear that it’s shocking to see that anyone can disagree about them.
There are many reasons why we vote for a particular candidate. Perhaps their views align with ours on several topics, or perhaps there’s a single issue that decides our vote and this candidate is in lockstep with us. Perhaps we prioritize candidates based on faith, or military service or their background. Perhaps we simply want to vote for the candidate we most want to “have a beer with.”
Whatever the reason, I find myself shocked
when the basic facts about a candidate — facts which are widely known and readily available to the public — somehow come in dispute.
Here are some basic facts that are beyond dispute and based on information that is easy to find: The Biden-Harris team has been the most pro-Labor, pro-worker administration in my lifetime, and Donald Trump will be hostile to Labor and workers.
What supports these facts? Well, words certainly matter. You could cite President Biden or Vice President Harris’ public comments on Organized Labor. You could also cite the way Donald Trump has talked about workers and Labor in the past. These comments are stark in their contrast.
While words do matter, actions are profoundly more important. Donald Trump spent four years in office and we only need to look at what he did to see what he thinks of workers and Labor.
During his presidency, Trump’s administration rolled back rights of workers to organize. His NLRB appointees made it harder for workers to hold union elections and implemented rules making it harder for employees to bring charges against their employers. When the time came for him to update NAFTA by imposing tariffs on imported cars and car parts from Mexico — a promise he made on the campaign trail — no tariffs came, and the promise was left broken.
Without any law giving him authority to do so, he directed the Department of Labor to create apprenticeship programs for various trade jobs that were administered solely by employers, an effort to gut apprentice programs run by Labor unions which have long been the backbone of training workers in valuable trades that are vital to the American economy. His hand-picked Supreme Court nominees moved
swiftly to gut public sector unions, effectively weakening our nation’s teachers. He signed three executive orders that limited federal worker’s rights and made it easier to fire those same workers.
In short, his record speaks for itself. Consider his only major legislative achievement, his tax cut of 2017. While working families got temporary tax cuts averaging about two percent for people making less than $200,000/year, 83 percent of all tax cuts went to individuals making more than $500,000 a year. Workers got crumbs while bosses got a feast.
In his private life, Donald Trump tried to bust unions in his own businesses and fleeced contractors so regularly that even while serving as president some of them began demanding payment in advance to avoid being stuck with an unpaid bill.
Contrast that record with the record of the Biden-Harris White House, which expanded worker rights at the NLRB, implemented new rules making it easier for workers to organize, publicly sided with UAW workers and helped avert a massive strike, and signed into law the largest investment in American infrastructure since the New Deal. Who is working for others? Who is trying to help working families and who is using the power of the federal government to make hard-working people more likely to succeed? The answer is clear. Some people get into politics to serve others, and some only serve themselves. Sometimes we get fooled or we can’t be sure, and sometimes the answer is crystal clear.
