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Machinist Union's Pres. Buffenbarger Calls for Congress to Re-Instate Glass Steagall; Build a "National TVA"
May 13, 2014 • 6:34PM

R. Thomas Buffenbarger, International President of the IAMAW (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers), last night addressed union members in Washington, D.C., who are on Capitol Hill with policy demands this week. Speaking at the IAM Legislative Conference, he stressed that the Glass Steagall law must be reinstated; he called for a "national TVA" to moblize the economy, to deal, in particular with the national drought and water supply crisis.

In calling for Glass Steagall, Buffenbarger slammed those who have conducted the bail-out for the banks. He said that his shop stewards could have done a better job of negotiating than did the U.S. Treasury Department!

He also slammed other aspects of the financial sector's predations. He denounced the free trade premises of the TPP—Trans Pacific Partnership, and the Atlantic version, and instead called for fair trade.

He denounced the drive to privatize the TVA. The IAM Legislative Activist Center spells this out, in an item, "Tell Congress to Vote 'No' on Privatizing the Tennessee Valley Authority." It states, "...Washington wants to sell the TVA. Tucked in President Obama's fiscal 2015 budget is a single paragraph to 'reform TVA.' It sounds harmless, but privatizing the TVA would undoubtedly raise energy costs for millions of working families and make little to no impact in reducing the deficit. It would also put the jobs of 13,000 people, many of them union, at risk. It's the last thing we need as we try to recover from the Great Recession."

Buffenbarger was recently re-elected by a 2 to 1 margin, to his position, which he has held for 16 years. This was a special election, forced by so-called "reformers," to attempt to challenge his policy leadership. In the recent period, Buffenbarger has been outspoken for the reinstatement of Glass-Steagall. The IAM is on record strongly endorsing this policy.

Speakers at this week's Legislative Conference include three prominent backers of two Senate bills to bring back Glass Steagall: today, Senate Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), sponsor of S. 985; and tomorrow Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), whose bill is S. 1282.

In July 2011, the IAM issued a statement backing HR 1489—"The Return to Prudent Banking Act", which would re-instate Glass-Steagall. Its co-sponsors were Representatives Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.), the backers today of HR 129, the same bill, which now has 81 sponsors.

In September, 2012, the IAM 38th Grand Lodge Convention adopted a resolution, titled, "Re-regulate the Financial Industry—Bring Back Glass-Steagall." The resolution stipulated punishment for the guilty. "Resolved: the perpetrators of the current scandals in the financial industry be subjected to prosecution under the fullest extent of the law; and Resolved: that those CEO's and executives of financial institutions who are found to be guilty, be stripped of their obscene pay packages with the proceeds being returned to the middle class investors whose only mistake was to have faith in these modern day robber barons."

In September, 2013, Tom Buffenbarger addressed the AFL-CIO Convention, stressing Glass Steagall restoration. He was interviewed on this by Labor Video Project


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