President's Message

by D. Michael Langford

This has been a transformative year. It started with the despicable, un-American attack on the rights of working people by newly elected state house Tea Bag Republicans. It ended with their policies taking an old fashioned, blue-collar buttkicking in Ohio (see pages 4-5).

People are waking up, organizing and mobilizing to turn back the tide of corporate control of our country by, and for, the privileged few. As utility workers, we confront the rich and powerful on a regular basis.

We see how the CEOs continue to reap the benefits of near monopolies, raking in billions in profits for shareholders while paying themselves millions in bonuses, all at the expense of the rate-paying public. We know first-hand how this does not serve the public good, but the selfish few. For too long people have felt helpless to confront the power of the 1%ers who now have a greater net worth than the entire bottom 90% of Americans. That’s right, the richest 1% of our fellow countrymen, now own more than 90% of us combined. In 2012, we must change that.

The winter uprising of working people and students that started in Madison, Wisconsin and spread to those states where anti-worker, anti-American legislation was being considered showed us that, together, we DO have the power to change things. The fall Occupy Wall Street movement galvanized the nation, and the world, by exposing the inequities between the super-rich and the rest of us, and taking on Wall Street.

In a few short months, we went from deficit hysteria and the need to cut jobs, pay, benefits and working conditions, to focusing on what really ails our nation: income inequality and the power of the few over the many.

Occupy Wall Street has exposed the truth for all to see; it’s the 1% vs. the 99%. Yes, rising income inequality is fueling joblessness, hunger, homelessness and poverty, disrupting millions of lives and threatening our democracy. Our political system is skewed to favor the rich over the rest of us, the few over the many. That is not compatible with a healthy democracy.

And that is why the slogan, “We are the 99%,” has resonated with the American people. We know something is wrong. And now we know we can do something about it.

People are pulling together and saying, “Enough is enough!” When we do that, we win. We did it in Ohio. We’re doing it in Wisconsin, Michigan, and will do so from Maine to California. We’ve got to turn this country around. We cannot fall asleep at the wheel.

Coming up fast are the 2012 elections. We’ve got to do our part to return sanity to our nation. If we don’t, we’re looking at a very stark future for ourselves, our families, our country, and the world.

I want to thank our members, officers, and staff for coming together to defeat SB5 in Ohio, to fight for our rights as workers, union members and Americans. We must continue what we started in Ohio and Wisconsin, taking our country back by the people, for the people.

In closing, I would like to wish all the best for you and yours this holiday season.