Industrial Union Council Convention
Atlantic City, New Jersey
October 19, 2000

Time after time, the IUC has helped to man the strike lines, fight the court battles and mobilize the workers to improve the lives of New Jersey families. By reaching across craft and industrial lines, the Council has proven that strength is derived from unity. Representing 300,000 workers, the IUC is the voice of labor solidarity in New Jersey.

In a few moments, we will be honoring three outstanding trade unionists who have contributed greatly to this state.
They include:

• Carla Katz, President of Communications Workers Local Union 1034;
• Fran Smith, UAW New Jersey Area Director; and,
• Dan DeSanti, Teamsters Eastern Region Vice President.

I want to say a few words about Brother DeSanti.

Throughout his 35 years as a Teamster, Dan has worked tirelessly to build his union-by organizing new members and negotiating some of the best contracts around. As President of Local Union 701 and Secretary-Treasurer of Joint Council 73, he is at the forefront of our efforts to restore unity, pride and strength to the Teamsters Union.

I have the pleasure of serving with Dan on the Teamsters General Executive Board. I value his input and energy. His commitment to the plight of working families is unmatched.

The Teamsters, like all of the unions represented here today, are calling on our members to lead the country toward making the right decision on November 7.

This morning you heard from a great Senate candidate and great American, Joe Corzine. You also heard from Maryann Connelly, who deserves the chance to provide progressive representative to the people of the Seventh District. Helping to elect both of these fine candidates is essential to winning a pro-labor congressional majority.

Let me tell you why I think this election is so important.

The Teamsters Union takes a bipartisan approach to politics.

We believe in rewarding our friends and punishing our enemies-regardless of party affiliation.

We certainly have had our differences with the current administration.

When organized labor sponsored a rally on Capitol Hill to say "NO" to PNTR for China, it included more than 6,000 rank-and-file Teamsters, on a work day, at their own expense.

When 50,000 union leaders and activists took to the streets of Seattle last year to protest the World Trade Organization, the news media marveled at a coalition made up of Teamsters and Turtles.

Let me tell you, the Republican ticket has become captive to the forces of reaction-those who want to turn the clock back to the 1920s.

Only by winning the White House and taking back the Congress can we stop efforts by Big Business to:

• Dismantle programs to increase workplace safety;
• Deny the right to organize and bargain collectively;
• Ignore dislocated workers;
• Block equal pay, and,
• Weaken pensions.

Al Gore is a long-time friend of working families. In seven years as a U.S. senator, he voted with working families 88 percent of the time.

He stood with unions to protect workplace health and safety, community wage standards, Medicare and Social Security. He helped to block attempts to bring back company unions and destroy the 40-hour week.

Gore opposed "paycheck deception" initiatives that would have silenced the political voice of working people. He steadfastly defended the freedom of working people to join unions and have a voice at work.

This is important.

No matter what your thoughts are regarding trade, there is only one antidote to the excesses of unrestrained international capitalism: a strong labor movement.

Seattle taught us that a global economy requires a global response. You've all heard the expression, "Think globally, act locally." I'd like to suggest the reverse: "Think locally, act globally."

When a multinational corporation shuts down a plant in New Jersey and moves production to a slave-wage haven in Asia, it's acting globally. But it's our local workers that get hurt.

Unions can help cushion the blow for our members. But if that's all we do, we will preside over the slow death of America's industrial base.

Around the world, corporations are consolidating their power. Unions need to do the same. We too must act globally. We must form coalitions with workers throughout the world, as we did in Seattle. We must prevail upon our government to enforce our trade laws.

But none of this can happen unless we are strong. Big Business knows this. They know that a strong labor movement is all that stands in the way of their global race to the bottom-in wages, working conditions, and human and environmental rights.

That is why they are outspending labor 11-to-1 this year to throw the White House to the party that drafted the "Contract on America."

We cannot stand idly by while the forces of reaction try to roll back the gains achieved over the past century. We all must volunteer time and energy in the next two-and-a-half weeks to mobilize our members and get them to vote.

Whether we man a phone bank, walk a precinct or put up lawn signs, we will help educate our union brothers and sisters and greatly improve our chances of victory.

Thank you.