On Saturday, April 21, Local 730 members Craig Upton, Diane Visser, Leon Chase, Gilbert Arambula, Jim Levy, and his wife Sue attended the annual Jefferson Jackson Celebration at Cobo Hall in Detroit.  As a first for most of us, we would like to thank Region 1D Director Don Oetman for the tickets to attend this event. 

Featured speakers were Governor Granholm, Presidential Candidate John Edwards, and Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow.  The Governor kicked off the night’s gala with a special honoree salute to Michael Martin, District 15, who is also Local 730 member Evelyn Shreve’s brother-in-law. 

Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer introduced John Edwards as, “the son of a mill worker” and the crowd of over 1800 roared with enthusiasm.  Listed below are some of the points he made:

·        This is the place where the middle class began.  This is the place that taught us what great manufacturing was for the rest of the world.  This is the place that taught the world about collective bargaining and how important and what a strength it is.

·        I watched what happened when unfair trade policies hurt our cities.  It’s not about loss of jobs, it’s about dignity and respect for men and women who made this country.  America was not built on Wall Street – it was built in the factories and manufacturing plants all over America.  When plants close, you can feel the life being pulled out of the state. 

·        The question is, what do we do to revitalize our country?  I think we have a huge opportunity to fix this.  We use 22 million barrels of oil a day.  It has to change to grow and create jobs here and all over Michigan.  You have extraordinary talent here in Michigan.   We all grew up believing in hard work, and I think Michigan has extraordinary talent and capacity to help change the world.

You have an extraordinary Governor, but here’s the problem – you have no partner in the White House.  I oppose the trade deal being negotiated between the Bush administration and South Korea.  I believe in trade deals that make sense for American workers.

·        We should be investing in the creation of new technology.  We live in a country that is emitting 25% of the world’s greenhouse gases.  How can we ask other countries to do their part when we’re not doing ours.  Detroit and Michigan could be a hub to develop environmentally-friendly fuels to power the automobiles of the future.  I don’t want to see the cars of the future built anywhere else.  They ought to be built right here in Detroit and the United States of America by UAW workers.

·        Again he said that he would support laws and make it easier for unions to organize, because it is absolutely crucial to maintain and strengthen and grow the middle class in this country, and that we strengthen the right to organize.  That we strengthen the power of unions to have a level playing field in the negotiating process.

·        We need to fill the gaps in health care disparity.  I think it says something about us as a nation by the way we take care of our poor.  One of the best tools to fight poverty is a good job and decent wages.  It is shameful that in the richest country in the world, 46 million people have no health care.  He said as President, he would push his plan for universal health care for Americans.  Paying for some of the cost by ending Bush’s tax breaks for individuals making more than $200,000 annually.

·        The next President can’t solve all our problems.  The question we need to ask ourselves is what are we willing to do, because there is nothing we can’t do together.  We cannot stay home and hope that the next president is going to solve it all, but there is nothing we can’t do together.  

In closing, the way I see it as a UAW member – anyone that will fight for Labor, the right to organize, and strengthen collective bargaining will always be welcome in Michigan.  The political machine is starting to gain speed.  Read the issues that affect our country, our jobs, and health care.  Remember to vote – it’s your right as an American.

In solidarity,

Gilbert Arambula, Joint Training Rep