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Day two of the UAW National CAP Legislative Conference began with an invocation by Local 1413 member Vivian Crane from Huntsville, Alabama. National CAP Chair Dick Long then introduced UAW President Ron Gettelfinger who gave his opening address to the conference. “It has been three long years, but the time has
finally come to send George Bush back to his ranch in Texas,”
the UAW President stated. “Since George Bush was appointed President
over 3 million Americans have lost their job, with over 2.6 million
of those being in the manufacturing sector. This is a President that
says one thing and does another. In his state of the union address he
reported that the economy was rebounding. However, his own labor department
recently reported that 1000 new jobs were created in January. That is
less than 20 a state. At that rate, it will only take 244 years to reclaim
the jobs lost during his presidency. As works lose their jobs, the trade
deficit grows each year. Current estimations project the 2003 trade
deficit to top 400 billion dollars. No worker can win health care protection
under this president, as over 15% of the total population is currently
uninsured. That is 43 million Americans with no health insurance, and
this includes 9 million children. Following President Gettelfinger’s opening address
the Legislative Department were introduced. UAW Legislative Director
Alan Reuther led the discussion on key issues facing labor and working
Americans. A total of eight priority issues have been assembled for
this legislative session. These issues include: |
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