District 11 President Carl Rosen District Pres. Carl Rosen laid out the details of a fragile but growing economy which added to delegates' first-hand accounts in their shop reports of how the fight for working people's right to share in that prosperity goes on every day in Midwestern factories, offices and educational institutions. While wage increases are besting inflation, Rosen said, we are working more hours, companies continue to attack retiree health benefits and the number of the uninsured continues to rise.
Organized workers continue to stay ahead through persistence.
A case in point on the western reaches of the district, Pres. Politically, UE members are taking their message straight to the politicians. District Southwest Coordinator Bill Austin and Local 893 Pres. Dan Kelley told the council about yet another successful Iowa political action day in Des Moines. Tom Dunne of Local 1172 in Milwaukee announced plans for a Wisconsin Political Action Day in the state capital, Madison, in which union members will likewise take their concerns to legislators.