North Alabama's Unions Encourage Navistar Workers to Vote Union Yes
CONTACT
Jacob Morrison
President, North Alabama Area Labor Council
(256) 426-3358
NORTH ALABAMA’S UNIONS ENCOURAGE NAVISTAR WORKERS TO VOTE UNION YES
Thousands of workers in and around Huntsville feel the benefits of unionization, as do millions across the country. Navistar workers deserve those benefits too
Workers in the unions that make up the North Alabama Area Labor Council (NAALC), AFL-CIO, from grocery clerks to rocket scientists, from stagehands to manufacturing workers, encourage workers at Navistar in Huntsville to vote UNION YES in their election on Thursday.
Workers in unions have higher wages than our non-union counterparts – on average 11% higher, but often even more than that. We have better healthcare – many members of our affiliate unions pay no premiums at all. We have better retirement plans – indeed, union members are some of the only people in the country left who have pensions. And we have safer workplaces – recent studies have shown that union members are 20% less likely to be injured on the job and are as much as 80% less likely to die on the job.
These benefits don’t happen by magic. We don’t have them because of alchemy. We have improved wages and working conditions because we stood together and demanded them. We do that because together we are stronger than we could ever be alone.
Rickie Langford, a production worker at United Launch Alliance in Decatur, AL and President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) Local Lodge 44 said “I’ve been a union member for 23 years - but this is my first union job. I came from a non-union background. The benefits are very good – some of our members make over $100,000 / year without a college degree.” His coworkers seem to overwhelmingly agree that having a union is a good thing. He points out: “Our union density is 95% in a right to work state out of 450 workers. I wouldn’t want to work no where else but a union environment.” Gavin Brunner, another production worker at ULA and member of the union, said “With a union comes the confidence of stability, and knowing that management can’t promote or give shifts based on favoritism. You have a say in your working conditions, and that’s something most folks don’t have”
Corey Roberts, an employee at Johnson Contractors and member of the Ironworkers Local 477 said “My health benefits are free, as part of my compensation package in my union contract. I don’t pay premiums, and I’ve never had to worry about having money to go to the hospital. I’ve got a pension, I’ll have a dignified retirement that I can enjoy with my family. But the biggest thing is the solidarity, being part of a union where you always watch each other’s back so you can come home to your family every day.”
Adam Keller, Worker Power Campaign Director at Alabama Arise and member of the staff union there, points out that, “at one time as many as one in four Alabama workers were in unions, and the workers of this state have a long, proud tradition of coming together around our common interests to win better lives. Unions are every bit as Alabama as football, sweet tea, and biscuits. Navistar workers have an opportunity to add to this rich history by standing strong in solidarity and voting union yes.”
Further, our council encourages workers at Navistar to ignore the anti-union propaganda from the Business Council of Alabama (BCA), and look at the fine print at the end of their ads. They say the BCA “represents the collective business interests of the entire Alabama business community [emphasis added].” So the bosses can unionize and advocate for their collective interests, but they want individual workers to stay divided. That’s because, despite their rhetoric, they recognize reality: people are stronger together. It’s true for workers, and it’s apparently even true for multi-billion dollar international corporations. Workers should ignore what the BCA says, and pay attention to what they do.
Once again, North Alabama’s unions encourage Navistar workers to vote union yes, and we stand prepared to support these workers once they’ve unionized when they begin their fight for a fair first contract.
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The North Alabama Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO is the regional federation of unions in North Alabama. We are one of hundreds of state and local labor councils of the AFL-CIO, and represent a dozen unions and thousands of members in our area. We are a democratically elected body dedicated to representing the interests of working people and making our communities better for all.