"There is no greater calling than to serve your fellow man. There is no greater satisfaction than to have done it well."
Walter P. Reuther
This is a page about us. It's about the UAW, our UAW, and why we exist and are so important. This importance extends far beyond Local 1590. We have probably all at one time or another forgotten what the UAW stands for and we focus only on what we would like it to accomplish in our particular workplace. The UAW exists not only for our workplace justice but also for economic and social justice for everyone. We work for justice for people who deserve a voice, who deserve equality, and who deserve fairness in their workplace, for people who work hard every day to make a living for themselves and their families, the people who make our Country strong. We aren't just about collective bargaining, we fight for the basic human rights of dignity and self-respect. We fight for health care and for our seniors, for a safe workplace and a living wage, for fair and equitable trade agreements, and many other working family issues.
Walter Reuther's vision was not just about what the UAW could do for its Members. He saw us as a standard bearer for our communities, our country, and for workers around the world. Ours is a fight for our future, a future that belongs to our children and to future generations, and one that should never be mortgaged or taken for granted. This is a fight we not only take to our bargaining tables but to our city councils, our school boards, our state capitols, and more important than ever, to Washington, DC.
There are those who say that Unions are no longer needed, that we have outlived our usefulness... how incredibly wrong these people are. To believe that fairness in the workplace over profits on Wall Street exists is to have our heads in the sand. To believe that a company that has no allegiance to its employees will have an allegiance to its community or to its country is to be sadly mistaken. The fight is not long past, in fact most likely it will never be over. As long as unfairness, injustice, and inequality exist, Unions have not outlived their usefulness. As long as boardroom greed continues to put profit above fairness to the communities and to the people who work hard every day to make their company strong and profitable, there will be a need for Unions.
This is our fight. This is the Union's fight. This is the UAW. We are our Union, and we must fight to keep it strong, not only for us but also for working families everywhere.
On this page you will find editorials written by UAW Members that express who we are, what we stand for, and what we wish to accomplish, not only for our families but also for our communities and for working families around the world. Strength through unity and remembrance will only make us stronger and help lend a voice to those who cannot make theirs heard. This page will always be a work-in-progress because we hope to add articles that will not only make us think but can only work to make us stronger. If you know of any articles that would be appropriate here please take a moment to pass them on to us. These could be either something you write or something you've seen somewhere else. All articles and opinions you see here are reprinted with the permission of their authors. I'd like to thank all of them for sharing their belief in our Union and for allowing us to use their articles.
Kris Lundberg
Webmaster |
