[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 99 (Friday, June 16, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8567-S8569]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     THE 31ST CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF THE UNITED AUTO WORKERS

 Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, the United Auto Workers are 
concluding their 31st Constitutional Convention today in Anaheim, CA. 
This is a momentous occasion, marking the end of one era and the 
beginning of another for one of the world's most important labor 
organizations. Owen Bieber, who has held the presidency for the past 12 
years, has retired and has handed over his duties to Stephen Yokich, 
the incoming president. Each of these leaders, with over 75 years of 
service to the UAW between them, has made it his life's work to fight 
for workers' rights both in the United States and around the world. 
They carry on an outstanding tradition of progressive union leadership 
that was established by the late Walter Reuther and continued by 
Leonard Woodcock and Douglas Fraser.
  Owen Bieber has dedicated more than 45 years of his life to promoting 
fair labor standards. Bieber went to work right after high school 
bending wire for car seats at the McInerney Spring and Wire Company in 
Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1948, he became a member of UAW Local 687, 
thus beginning a journey that would see him rise to the highest level 
of the organization. Bieber was quickly voted in to several leadership 
positions and in 1956, he was elected president of Local 687. Bieber 
served as president of the local until 1961, when he was appointed to 
be a staff representative for UAW Region 1D. He remained with UAW 
Region 1D for the next 20 years. He was elected regional director in 
1974, and reelected in 1977. In 1980, delegates to the Union's 26th 
Constitutional Convention elected him to be an international vice-
president and he then took charge of the UAW's largest department--
General Motors. His final step to the presidency of the UAW came at the 
27th Constitutional Convention in Dallas in 1983. Since then, he has 
been reelected every 3 years, with his fourth and final term beginning 
in 1992.
  Owen Bieber has always been committed to the belief that in order for 
U.S. industry to be successful, there must be a strong partnership 
between management and labor. As UAW president, Bieber's strategy of 
building new cooperation with the auto companies laid the foundation 
for future success. It is this strategy that has allowed the U.S. auto 
industry to bounce back and once again lead the world. Bieber has 
worked to increase security for union members while at the same time 
helping improve the quality of both work and work life in the plants. 
Bieber has focused the union on efforts to raise wages, protect jobs, 
strengthen work place safety and ensure fully paid health care. Under 
Bieber's leadership, the UAW established and fostered successful 
bargaining relationships with Japanese manufacturers. Bieber also 
expanded membership in the UAW to include workers in the media, 
academia, and government.
  Owen Bieber has also expressed a strong commitment to civil and human 
rights, both at home and abroad. During his tenure as president, the 
world saw workers win their basic rights in countries such as Poland 
and South Africa. These struggles were strongly supported by the UAW. 
In 1986, Bieber negotiated on behalf of South African workers who were 
jailed without being charged with a crime. A high point of his career 
came in 1990, when Bieber had the opportunity to escort recently freed 
Nelson Mandela through Ford Motor Company's Rouge plant.
  Throughout the years, Bieber has always remained committed to his 
local community. He has also been a strong booster of the city of 
Detroit, where the union is headquartered. His broad civic involvement 
has included such organizations as the NAACP and the United Way.
  Owen Bieber has always shown the highest regard and respect for the 
American worker. This giant of a man has also been a booming voice for 
a tough and fair American trade policy. It is only fitting that now, as 
he retires, we have an administration that is willing to stand up for 
American manufacturers and American workers and to insist that foreign 
markets are as open to our products as our markets are to imports.
  The new president, Stephen Yokich, has spent the past three decades 
working on behalf of labor. The UAW has always meant a great deal to 
Yokich and his family. Both of Yokich's parents and grandfathers were 
members of the UAW. Yokich has been one the UAW's strongest 
negotiators. Yokich has been in charge of UAW's General Motors 
Department since 1989. He was on hand to oversee the downsizing of GM's 
work force. Yokich's handling of the situation enabled more workers to 
keep their jobs and has ultimately led to a more cooperative 
relationship between the UAW and GM. One of his main responsibilities 
in the near future will be to increase UAW membership, a task that will 
benefit from his great personal energy.
  It is heartening to see that the leadership of one of the world's 
most important labor organizations will remain in able hands. I know my 
Senate colleagues join me in congratulating these two outstanding 
leaders for the extraordinary work they have done on behalf of our 
Nation's workers and for their efforts to make our automobile 

[[Page S8568]]
industry the foremost example of American manufacturing. I ask that the 
text of the remarks of Owen Bieber at the UAW's 31st Constitutional 
Convention be placed in the Record following my statement.
  The text of the remarks follows:

                         Remarks of Owen Bieber

       Brothers and sisters, I cannot tell you how much that video 
     tribute, and how much your warm applause means to me.
       What I can tell you is that when all is said and done--it 
     is you and those you represent who have--time and again, 
     inspired me.
       It is your passion for justice, your love of your country 
     and your love for the UAW that drives this union.
       It is you who have created the opportunities for me to take 
     the UAW's message from California to South Africa.
       It is the clout of one-point-three million active and 
     retired UAW members, that has carried me to the offices of 
     Presidents and Senators and CEO's.
       Without this union, a young worker in an auto parts plant 
     in Grand Rapids, Michigan could hardly dream of meeting Lech 
     Walesa or Nelson Mandela or Bill and Hillary Clinton--let 
     alone actually do so.
       It is also the collective UAW that has generated the great 
     team of colleagues I have had the privilege to work with over 
     the years.
       Leonard Woodcock and Doug Fraser, especially, have been 
     there for advice and counsel whenever I needed them.
       Ken Bannon, Don Ephlin, Martin Gerber, Pat Greathouse, 
     Irving Bluestone, Marc Stepp, Odessa Komer, Olga Madar and 
     retired board members have also remained loyal supporters and 
     advisors.
       I cannot think of anyone I would rather have had on my side 
     and at my side for the battles we've been through than Steve 
     Yokich, Stan Marshall, Ernie Lofton, Carolyn Forrest, and 
     Secretary-Treasurer, Bill Casstevens.
       In case you don't already know this, let me tell you that 
     the thing about the president's staff is that they are 
     supposed to be kind of invisible.
       But believe you me, without Dick Shoemaker and the rest of 
     my fine staff and department heads, this union would be 
     nowhere near as effective as we have been.
       There are many unsung warriors in the UAW army, but I think 
     there are none who contribute more than our clerical staff, 
     and I thank them for the great work they do.
       I want to say a special word about my personal secretary, 
     Mary Shoemaker, who has been of great help to me and I thank 
     her for that.
       You know when you elect a president of the UAW--whether 
     they like it or not--you are electing their family to serve, 
     as well.
       The family, too, must adjust to the travel and the long 
     hours and the phone calls that can come at any time.
       They, too, carry the weight of the office.
       In my own case, my wife, Shirley, has, in essence, worked 
     for this union for many years.
       Thanks to all of those I have mentioned and many, many more 
     that I have not--it is a remarkable life I have had.
       It is, I hope, a life that has taught me a thing or two 
     along the way.
       Brothers and sisters, as I look back across the twelve 
     years you have given me the honor of serving you as president 
     . . . and as I look forward to the future--one thing in 
     particular stands out as strong and clear as the sun on a 
     bright, shiny morning.
       It is this:
       When you put the opportunities that are before us, together 
     with the rock solid strengths of this union--I have no doubt 
     that the UAW's future will be even greater than our past.
       Let me speak, for a moment, of the nature of our times and 
     the opportunities they create.
       As many of you have heard me say before, a new economic 
     order has upset boundaries and assumptions that guided our 
     society for many decades.
       Corporate globalization . . . new technology . . . the end 
     of the cold war . . . and the relentless commercialization of 
     our values are pulling and tugging with great force at our 
     social fabric.
       As a result, fear and frustration are being expressed from 
     many points on the compass.
       We hear it in the bitterness of the debate over affirmative 
     action and immigration.
       We felt it in the explosion in Oklahoma City.
       It is part and parcel of the coast-to-coast angry talk show 
     voices that denounce the legitimacy of our government . . . 
     day . . . after . . . day . . . after . . . day.
       By the way, as First Lady Hillary Clinton suggested back in 
     Michigan recently--aren't any of those people ever in a good 
     mood?
       Not that I can tell.
       As I have said, it's obvious that many people react to 
     political, social and economic change with fear and 
     uncertainty.
       I, however, see something very different.
       I see a time of hope and opportunity.
       Why is that?
       What do I see that others don't?
       I see the drive that inspires men and women to band 
     together for justice, as we in the trade union movement have 
     done.
       My friends, I have spent all of my adult life in this 
     union.
       And believe you me, I know first-hand that life for our 
     members now is better than it was when I joined the UAW . . . 
     forty-seven years ago.
       Much better.
       Brothers and sisters, a lifetime spent in the UAW does not 
     make one fearful of change.
       To the contrary, a lifetime in the UAW makes one aware of 
     the desire and the ability of working people to control their 
     own destiny.
       A lifetime in the UAW makes one aware of the value of 
     collective action.
       Call it solidarity . . . call it brotherhood and sisterhood 
     . . . call it what you will--it is what happens when the 
     power of community hooks up with the power of justice.
       As I said in the video we saw earlier--that is a tradition 
     that I have been proud to uphold.
       I am proud of what this union did for our members, during 
     very difficult times.
       When you look back at the 80's and 90's, if there was any 
     kind of insurance . . . any kind of protection . . . any kind 
     of good fortune that a working man or woman could have that 
     delivered more than being a member of the UAW--I cannot think 
     what it might be.
       The record speaks for itself.
       No union did better at defending the standard of living of 
     its members. None.
       In insecure times . . . did we break new ground on job 
     security?
       Yes, we did.
       Did we make our workplaces healthier and safer?
       We sure did.
       Did we set out to defend the core idea of employer-paid 
     health care that previous UAW generations fought so hard to 
     win?
       And did that idea come under attack in every single 
     negotiation we entered?
       You know it did.
       But you know, too, that UAW members held on to employer-
     paid health care during a time when millions of workers were 
     losing that benefit.
       And what about our retirees?
       Did we take care of those who built this great union?
       We sure did.
       And did we uphold the UAW's pioneering tradition, when it 
     came to gaining worker involvement in decisions on sourcing 
     and quality and manufacturing design?
       Did we break new ground when it comes to education and 
     training, child care services and assistance for workers' 
     personal problems?
       You know the answer.
       Add it all up and this whole union has a lot to be proud 
     of.
       Brothers and sisters, as well as we have done at the 
     collective bargaining table, that is by no means the extent 
     of our accomplishments.
       Let's look at our impact on politics and legislative 
     issues.
       A very good place to begin is with the fight that's going 
     on right now to bring fairness to the economics of global 
     trade.
       I don't know if you noticed or not, but the Wall Street 
     Journal recently paid this union quite a compliment.
       In a lead editorial, they said, in so many words, that the 
     reason that something is done about trade is because the UAW 
     has made so much noise and created so much pressure on this 
     issue.
       Well, brothers and sisters, on behalf of the thousands of 
     UAW members who have fought long and hard for fairness from 
     the Japanese, I propose we accept the compliment from the 
     Wall Street Journal with a big round of applause.
       And while we're at it, let's also give a cheer to President 
     Bill Clinton for standing up to the Wall Street Journal and 
     the rest of the free-trade hypocrites--not to mention the 
     Japanese themselves.
       It's about time we had a President with the guts to act on 
     this issue.
       Brothers and sisters, the President is exactly right when 
     he says that one-way trade is not free trade at all.
       He is taking a lot of heat in this struggle and he deserves 
     our support.
       It is time for us to, show, again, where we stand.
       Let us write and call our Senators and House members in 
     support of the President's courageous position on auto trade 
     with the Japanese.
       Let me go further.
       It is also important to mobilize now because the President 
     needs our help in fighting the budget-cut atrocities that the 
     Republicans will try to impose on our country's working 
     families in the next one-hundred days.
       As we approach these battles--let us not surrender to 
     defeatism.
       I tell you, brothers and sisters: the Republicans are 
     weaker now than they were when Congress convened last 
     January.
       They do not have a popular mandate to wreck the country and 
     it is our job to make sure they know that.
       Let me tell you one more thing.
       It is critical that we line up with President Clinton now 
     for one more reason.
       The 1996 elections will be here sooner than you can blink 
     an eye.
       And make no mistake about it--it is Bill Clinton who is 
     standing between us and Phil Gramm . . . or Bob Dole . . . 
     or, God forbid, Pat Buchanan, coming to live in the White 
     House in January of 1997.
       Need I say more?
       I don't think so.
       Turning now to another subject--as we all know, there is a 
     huge gap between the accomplishments of the UAW . . . and how 
     we are perceived.
     
[[Page S8569]]

       Generally speaking, unions do not get the credit we deserve 
     for what we contribute to the lives of our members or the 
     well-being of our society.
       Well, you know what, brothers and sisters--I say the time 
     has come to quit believing what our critics say about us.
       I say it's time to rely not on what somebody else says, but 
     on what we know.
       It is time to say--enough--to those who say that the trade 
     union movement is too weak and too small and too old-
     fashioned to make a difference in today's world.
       It is time to quit believing the propaganda put out by 
     corporations, politicians and the media who want us to feel 
     powerless and be powerless so that they may be even more 
     powerful.
       Brothers and sisters, ask yourself this question . . . if 
     we're so damn weak, why have powerful corporations spent 
     hundreds of millions of dollars to create a union-busting 
     industry in this country?
       And just why do they work so hard to make union organizing 
     so difficult?
       And have you ever wondered about this: Why does the media 
     write our obituary . . . over and over and over again?
       Let's really think about this.
       You don't read story after story about how the Prohibition 
     Party is dead do you?
       Of course not.
       That's because the Prohibition party really is dead!
       They don't have to write their obituary over and over like 
     they do ours.
       Sometimes I wonder who is it they are trying to convince--
     themselves, or us?
       Either way, my friends--it's time to quit believing this 
     baloney about how weak we are.
       It is time to put our media-induced inferiority complex 
     behind us.
       It's time for us to stand up to convicted felons and right-
     wing wackos like G. Gordon Liddy, Rush Limbaugh, and Bo 
     Gritz.
       There is nothing to be gained by keeping our mouths shut, 
     and our pens in our pockets.
       Let's start talking back to talk radio and writing more 
     letters to the editor than ever.
       Let's be clear here about something else.
       It is not trade unions that are dinosaurs left over from 
     some other age.
       It's the G. Gordon Liddy's who find themselves in the wrong 
     century and I'm sick and tired of those who try to tell us 
     differently.
       The truth is the truth.
       It is trade unions who have proven time and again that we 
     can and do adapt to new circumstances.
       The UAW was born from the challenges created by the new 
     industrial economy of the 1930's.
       Since then we've shifted from peace to war and back again.
       We've been leaders in integrating minorities into our 
     economic, political and social life.
       We've brought trade unions into new sectors of the economy 
     and new places on the globe.
       From the Chrysler bailout forward, we helped American 
     industry turn around from its deepest peacetime crisis ever.
       We've helped Ford and GM and John Deere and lot's of other 
     companies change with the times.
       And just so there is no confusion in anyone's mind--this 
     entire union remains one-hundred percent solid in supporting 
     the struggle of our members at Caterpillar.
       They are trying to keep that company from backsliding 
     completely into the nineteenth century.
       And they have our full support.
       You know, when you look at it closely, the basic situation 
     now is very much the same as it was sixty years ago when this 
     great union was founded.
       Now, as then, the questions before us have to do with how 
     to distribute the wealth that dynamic new economic 
     developments have the potential to create.
       We are a richer country today than we have ever been.
       Yet more people are poor.
       We were once a rich country that led the world in the just 
     distribution of wealth.
       Now, we lead the industrialized world in how unfairly 
     wealth is distributed.
       That is not just sad. It's dangerous.
       For if there is one lesson that emerges from the twentieth 
     century, it is this: How fairly wealth is distributed has a 
     great deal to do with how much wealth gets created.
       We have also demonstrated in the past, that we will commit 
     the financial means to sustain us in long and difficult 
     collective bargaining and organizing campaigns.
       Speaking of organizing, all across this union, in 
     workplaces large and small, we have demonstrated that we can 
     help workers organize under the most difficult conditions.
       Not only is that true in our traditional industrial base--
     it's true in the growing service sector as well.
       In fact, the UAW is now represented in just about every 
     section of the economy.
       By way of example, Local 6000, which represents the state 
     employees of Michigan, is now the largest local in the entire 
     UAW.
       There is another kind of diversity that is also a basic UAW 
     strength.
       Our union unites whites, blacks, Latinos . . . and men and 
     women, as does no other organization in American life.
       In a time of media manipulation and hate-mongering--that 
     unity is a mighty weapon in the fight for justice and 
     democracy.
       In that same spirit, I would also point out that the UAW 
     has a solid and growing core of experienced, dynamic and 
     talented trade union women.
       The UAW also possesses widely respected technical expertise 
     in its legal; research; health and safety; retired workers, 
     communications; social security; community service; political 
     action and other departments.
       And speaking of political action--we have a political army 
     of active and retired members that is second to none.
       Another great strength is the leadership that is nominated 
     to take the reins of this union.
       They are battle tested. They are smart. They are dedicated 
     and hard-working. They have a clear vision of the future.
       They are the right leaders, in the right time, at the right 
     place to do what needs to be done.
       What's more, come next fall, they will have the added 
     advantage of dynamic new leadership in the AFL-CIO.
       Finally, the most important reason for my confidence in our 
     future is represented right here in this room.
       It is the membership of this union--the men and women that 
     elected you to be here--that make up our ultimate weapon.
       It is you, and those like you, in workplaces all over this 
     country who build this union and keep it strong.
       And it is you for whom I have been proud to work as your 
     president.
       I welcome, therefore, this opportunity to say thank you for 
     all that you have done for me * * * and all that you have 
     meant to me over the years.
       No matter how trying the times, I knew that I could always 
     count on you.
       I knew that with teamwork in the leadership and solidarity 
     in the ranks--I could call on this membership at any time.
       And I have done so, many times.
       You have never let me down.
       You have never let your union down.
       For that, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart.
       And on Thursday I will hand over the gavel knowing that 
     this union's future will be even greater than its past.
       Thank you again for everything.

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