[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 14 (Friday, February 11, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 11, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
 WORKERS OF AMERICA OWE DEBT OF GRATITUDE TO UNITED ELECTRICAL WORKERS 
                          OF AMERICA LOCAL 218

  (Mr. SANDERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, it is no secret that all over America, 
large corporations are forcing down the wages and benefits that their 
workers receive. In the last 20 years, while the richest people in our 
country have grown richer, the real wages of American production 
workers have gone down by over 20 percent.
  Mr. Speaker, if America is not to become a Third World economy where 
workers slave away for $5 or $6 an hour with no benefits, the 
impoverishment of our working people must stop--and stop now.
  Within that context, I am very proud to inform you that in 
Springfield, VT, the workers at the Fellows Corp., members of Local 218 
of the United Electrical Workers of America, have been on strike now 
for 3 weeks, and are fighting back with great courage against the 
efforts of that company to slash their wages, their health benefits, 
and the pension plan that they have fought so hard to obtain.
  All of the workers of Vermont and America owe the members of United 
Electrical Local 218 a debt of gratitude for their struggle, because 
they are fighting not only for their rights, but for the rights of all 
Vermont and American workers.
  We can no longer allow corporate America to grind down the working 
class of this country. Our working people, and their children, must be 
treated with dignity and respect, and I want to thank the United 
Electrical members at the Fellows Corp. for reminding us of that.

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