A Message from UWUA President, Michael Langford

Let me start by thanking all of you for re-electing me and the other National Officers and Executive Board members to lead our great union for the next four years. I am honored to serve you and look forward to working with you and your local officers to protect the gains we have made, improve our collective bargaining agreements whenever and wherever possible, and bring the benefits of union membership to others.

Our work at this summer’s convention resulted in a blueprint to move forward. The stage is set for a momentous showdown between the few super-rich who seek to profit by turning the clock back to a time when people had no rights at work, and the vast majority of Americans who are falling further and further behind. There are CEOs getting paid tens of millions of dollars a year in our regulated industries, yet they come after our pay, pensions, healthcare and working conditions at the bargaining table. I think that is criminal.

We are prepared to be on the front lines of this fight and as a unified union, we will make our mark on history. We came out of the Convention as one — a united and fighting union. We laced up our boots, strapped on our tools and we are back in the trenches, fighting to preserve the middle class and save the American Dream.

Getting America Back on Track
Our union and our nation face tremendous challenges. And, as utility workers, we have an important role to play in getting America back on track and back to work. We can, and we must, do everything possible to make that happen.

Utilities are cutting off the gas and electricity to those who can no longer pay their bills. People are dying. Fires, explosions, and accidents that could be avoided are increasing. Instead of investing in infrastructure, personnel and safety equipment, utilities are fixed on “shareholder value” at the expense of the communities they are supposed to serve. This is wrong.

Because of their focus on exorbitant executive compensation and quarterly returns , rather than the public good, our utilities are running so lean that we cannot keep up with recurring man-made and natural disasters and emergencies that are a common occurrence. Utility workers know because we are the first to respond to disasters. We are chasing storm after storm, from one disaster to the next. Never mind the mutual aid agreements between our employers, we can’t take care of our own home front. It’s tragic. It’s wrong. It makes no sense and we must do something about it.

Rebuilding the Country
The services we provide and the resources we deliver are too important to be sacrificed for CEO pay and shareholder profit.

We believe access to affordable heat, water and electricity is a human right. We can put people to work in good jobs by rebuilding our water, gas and electrical infrastructure. Updating our transmission lines alone would mean tens of thousands of jobs and put in place the necessary infrastructure for a better future.

Congress must act to put people back to work. And what better way than in rebuilding America?

President Obama’s American Jobs Act will help do that.

This is not a Democrat or Republican issue, it’s a national issue. We must call our Congressional representatives and tell them to pass the American Jobs Act and put people back to work rebuilding America now!

The President’s plan includes tried and true solutions for creating jobs that have received widespread bipartisan support in the past — investing in education and infrastructure.

Americans cannot wait to get back to work. And this bill will do just that quickly and with long-term benefits to our country.

The longer we wait, the higher the price we, our children and our grandchildren will pay.

Seize the Time
The same is true for an energy bill that would also be a jobs bill, putting hundreds of thousands of people to work in utilities and manufacturing while helping to tackle climate change. We want to turn coal green, operate safe nuclear plants, and build new green industries by passing legislation that will improve the lives of working men and women.

We must do whatever we can to pass legislation that will invest in new green energy technologies and jobs. This is not pie in the sky. With the Obama administration we have a real opportunity. This president has done more for working people and labor than any president in my lifetime. Through his appointments to the Energy and Labor Departments, he has made a real difference in our lives.

We have the opportunity right now as utility workers to build our industries and shape our future. Brothers and sisters, we need to take our fight into the 2012 elections. We need to show those who would like to kill the labor movement and take us back 100 years that they cannot ruin what took a century to build.

Coming out of our convention we vowed we would do just that because We Are One!

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