Rick Reinhard

Weakening Economy
Underscores Harm of Fast Track
The dramatic jump in the unemployment rate has underscored the reasons behind labor’s opposition to Bush administration fast track legislation. That legislation will simply grease the skids for an expansion of NAFTA to other countries and lead to the loss of thousands of additional manufacturing jobs. Business groups put up a TV ad campaign to try to pressure key swing representatives. But the labor movement has responded with its own media campaign. The UAW has been running ads against fast track in newspapers around the country.

House Democrats Pick Friend of UAW as Minority Whip
U.S. House Democrats have elected Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as minority whip, making her the highest-ranking woman in congressional history. Pelosi earned a 100 percent UAW voting score last year. "We made history, and now we have to make progress," Pelosi said after the election. The UAW supported the eight-term California representative. She will succeed David Bonior, D-Mich., when he resigns Jan. 15 to focus on his run for Michigan governor.

GOP’s Armey Uses Anti-Union Rhetoric on Airport Safety Bill
As Congress debated whether to federalize airport security personnel, some Republicans used anti-union rhetoric to oppose the measure. House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, claimed that Democrats wanted to federalize airport screeners in order to create 28,000 to 30,000 new union members whose dues could be used for campaign contributions to Democrats. The Senate unanimously passed legislation that would federalize screeners at the largest U.S. airports, but the House rejected an identical bill.

Daschle Wants to Expand Rights for Public Safety Workers
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., recently offered an amendment to a spending bill that would give collective bargaining rights to all public safety workers employed by states and municipalities. Daschle noted that 60,000 firefighters in 18 states “don’t even have the right to sit down with their employers and talk about workplace health and safety issues.”

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