Communications                  501 Third Street, N.W.                                      Morton     Bahr

Workers of America              Washington, D.C. 20001-2797                        President

 

 

 

 

January 2000

 

Dear CWA Member:

 

With the support of CWA, AFL-CIO convention delegates voted in October to recommend

to the 13 million union families, for their consideration, Vice President Al Gore       for President

in 2000. Previously in July, about 2,000 CWA rank-and-file convention delegates voted

unanimously to endorse and recommend Vice President Gore for the consideration of our

CWA members and families.

 

Even though the election may seem far off to you, the nominees for the two major political

parties will be decided by the end of March when the biggest primaries will have been held.

 

As a member of CWA, I want you to know how we arrived at our recommendation and

the reasons why we made this decision.  I hope you will read this letter carefully so that

you will understand how the process unfolded.

 

When I was first elected CWA President in 1985, I traveled the country and spoke with more

than 50,000 members. One of my major objectives, I told them, was to build the sense of

family within our union -- that we truly care about what happens to one another.

 

This is what I said:

 

"We want to develop trust and credibility between the members, the local union and the

national union--the kind of trust so that when the local or the national union recommends

consideration of a political candidate, a ballot issue, or a piece of legislation, that you will

give at least as much consideration to your union as you do to other sources of information

such as newspapers and TV in your decision-making processes.  But we will never tell or

even imply how you should vote."

 

We have stood firm in that policy. That's why CWA does not endorse a particular candidate

because he or she is a Democrat, Republican, Reform or independent. We focus solely on

the issues that directly impact the lives of working families.  We make our decision based on

the answers to these questions:

 

Is this the best candidate to improve the lives of CWA members and their families?   Does this

candidate believe in the collective bargaining process,  and that strong unions are vital to the

future of our nation?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We only recommend candidates whose records and positions contribute to achieving these

goals.     We carefully reviewed the  records of all the potential candidates for President.

 

 

Vice President Al Gore, by virtue of what he has done, stands head and shoulders above

everyone on the issues of   greatest concern to working families.

 

I want to relate just a couple of stories involving CWA members that reveal the

Vice President's character and values, and the depth of feeling he has for workers.

 

           In April 1993, in office just three months, the CEOs of the Regional Bell Operat-

           ing Companies (RBOCs) and GTE asked to meet with the Vice President. He is

           considered the Clinton Administration's technology "guru."

 

           Vice President Gore declined to meet with the eight CEOs without me present to

           represent the interests of the  350,000   members employed by these companies.

 

           He has maintained that policy during the past seven years.  This recognition of

           our union and our members was not evident in   the previous administrations of

           Presidents Reagan and Bush.

 

           On election night last year, ABC-TV locked out 2,400 of our members.

           Vice President Gore was in Seattle, scheduled to do an interview with

           ABC White House correspondent Ann Compton.

 

           Somehow the Vice President learned of the ABC lockout and his instincts took

           over. He canceled the interview with Compton (and a scab camera crew), saying:

 

           “I don't cross CWA picket lines, electronic or physical."

 

           Vice President Gore set the tone for the long lockout.

 

           The only real leverage we had was to keep political figures, performers and

           others from crossing our picket lines (physical or remote) and appearing on

           shows like "Good Morning America'' or "This Week with Sam and Cokie."

           With but one exception, every Democratic office holder refused to go on ABC.

 

           Unfortunately, there was no shortage of Republican office holders who

           crossed our picket lines, including the then Speaker of the House-designate,

           Congressman Livingston.

 

           During the lockout. Vice President Gore met with picketing CWA members

           during an ABC telecast of a college football bowl game (Tennessee was playing)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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              over the objections of management.  In fact, ABC was quite angry with him for

                appearing to side with the workers. He didn't care.

 

                And he often talks about his emotional meeting with CWA supporters who lost

                their iobs when Sprint's La Connexion Familiar shut down a week before the

                NLRB election when these several hundred workers were to vote on CWA

                representation.

 

Vice President Gore has proven repeatedly that he is a friend of working families:

 

>              He firmly believes in collective bargaining and supports your right to strike without

                the fear of being permanently replaced.

 

>              He has a long history of voting for strong job safety and health laws.

 

>              A leader in education reform, he also is a champion of tax-free education benefits for

                workers .

 

>              He supports expanding the benefits of the Family Medical and Emergency Leave  Act,

                and will veto any attempt by Congress to repeal or scale back the law. (You can be

                sure that a President George W. Bush, for example, would sign a bill to repeal

               FMLA.)

 

>              He is a vocal defender of the right of all workers to form a union free of employer

                harassment and intimidation.

 

We do not agree with him on every  issue.  But on the things that matter most in your life,

Vice President Gore is on your side.

 

In fact, his voting record in the Senate on working family issues was second only to Senator

Edward Kennedy, which is incredible when    you consider that Vice President Gore comes

from a right-to-work (for less) state.

 

You can count on him to stand with you in a labor dispute and to protect your overtime pay,

pension, health care, Medicare and Social Security.

 

We cannot say the same about the other candidates.

 

Texas Governor George W. Bush, for example, has a very anti-union, anti-worker

record that contrasts with his “compassionate conservative" rhetoric.

 

He does not believe in strong unions and supports the right of the employer to hire a replace-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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ment to take your job if you go on strike. In 1997, he    tried to eliminate the jobs of thousands

of CWA-represented state workers by privatizing their jobs.  With Vice President Gore's

support, we stopped him.

 

Governor Bush is a leader in the privatization of public services which is the same concern to

public workers as contracting-out is in the private sector.

 

Under his leadership. Texas ranks 42nd in providing unemployment benefits. 15 percent of

Texas' working poor live in poverty and 37 percent of children in working poor families

have no health insurance.  He supports Texas' right-to-work (for less) law and he tried to raid

the state pension fund to give tax breaks to the wealthy.

 

Based on all of these factors, CWA officers and convention delegates believe that

Vice President Gore is the best, most experienced candidate with a proven record of

support for working families and is deserving of our recommendation to you.

 

I could say more about him, but urge you to look closely at all of the candidates and

compare their records.

 

Consider the issues that impact on your union's ability to bargain fair wages and  benefits, to

keep a strong union that will protect your retirement health care and build a decent life for

you and your family. You will see that Vice President Gore has earned your very careful

consideration.

 

You are a valued member of the CWA Family, so please feel free to write me as I am

anxious to hear your comments and thoughts on these issues.

 

 

In Solidarity.

Morton Bahr

President