Subject: Labor Unions represent you...first, last, and always


This is part of a statement by Jim Bertolone, president of Rochester Labor Council,
                                                    AFL-CIO,  and American Postal Workers  Local 215.

The American labor movement is not a business or a political party. We are not a church
or a charity. We are not any single union or even one giant federation. We are a
brotherhood united in cause of justice for working families and rumors of our demise
have been greatly exaggerated. The four international unions that recently left the AFL-
CIO are still among us. They have formed their own national coalition and they are
working hard to build power for America's working families.

What really matters is that working people deserve decent pay, quality health care and
secure retirements. While the rich get richer, our pay declines and our benefits are
cut. When the most profitable company in our country pays minimum wage and offers no
benefits to its workers, when businesses come to our community and use out-of-town
labor for construction, when health care workers can't afford to sleep in the beds they
make, when our schools lack books and hospitals are overcrowded — that is when we will
come together in solidarity.

The internal debate that rages today inside the house of labor is not a sign of labor's
demise, it is a testimony to our strength and determination. This is what democracy is
all about. Labor unions are the only democratic institutions in the entire nation run
solely by and for working people. Our ability to disagree and remain united is well
documented throughout the last two centuries. Political divisions have made our
movement stronger because they are based in the need for change and growth. Today, we
need to change and grow, and when we do — we'll be better and we'll be stronger. Debate
for now, solidarity forever.


Democrat & Chronicle: Local News
"I tell you today that we are united no matter which union affiliate is here,
and they are all here," Jim Bertolone, president of the Rochester-Genesee ...
www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ article?AID=/20050906/NEWS01/509060331/-1/ARCHIVE1

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