February 6, 2008UAW Local 148 Membership Update from Washington, DC
C-17 PROGRAM NEWS AND SUPPORT IN THE PRESIDENT’S 2009 BUDGET PROPOSAL
In December of last year I was elected Recording Secretary for the Western States CAP/PAC and selected to attend the National CAP Conference here in Washington, DC.
Prior to leaving and in preparation for the conference, we knew that the President’s 2009 Budget Proposal was being published on February 5th and as in past proposals the C-17 Program was over looked and that Congress would have to fight, once again, to secure the program and get it addressed in the ’09 Budget. Timing was good for this news and our trip to Washington, so I initiated a letter writing campaign for support of the C-17 and to set-up appointments with Senators and Representatives to correspond with our time here in Washington.
We arrived on Saturday morning and began to strategize with other Union Officers, Representatives and Retirees attending the conference from across the country. While many of our CAP Representatives are from the auto industry, there are also Nurses, Teachers and College Students. I brought our focus of aerospace and the C-17 program, our workforce and jobs to the table.
On Tuesday UAW International President, Ron Gettelfinger and the Region 5 Director, Jim Wells made arrangements for me to speak with Public Relations Representatives and the Press in an effort to get our story about the ’09 Budget and the C-17 out to the national media and news. I was prepared with lists, charts, maps and statistics regarding the humanitarian, military and national security aspects of our plane as well as the 8.4 billion dollar impact the shut-down would have on our economy.
Our Representative Linda Sanchez was a speaker at yesterday’s conference; which gave us another opportunity to get additional support in getting our message heard. After the conference and meeting with Representative Sanchez, we went to the Capital Building and spoke with Senator Diane Feinstein. Senator Feinstein and her staff are part of the team supporting funding of the C-17 Program. They released the following statement regarding the ’09 Budget and the C-17: “The C-17 is the workhorse of the U.S. strategic airlift and will continue to be so. But unless the Pentagon begins to fund this critical program, we are in real danger of losing our capacity to produce this tremendous asset and meet the growing transport needs of our future warfighters.” (www.feinstein.senate.gov)
Today we met with Senator Barbara Boxer and briefly spoke to Senator John Warner (R-VA) of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
I will update you on our remaining meetings when I return to Long Beach and in future Air Scoops. In Solidarity, Jacki Harris
JH:tb opeiu #537
C-17 PROGRAM NEWS AND SUPPORT IN THE PRESIDENT’S 2009 BUDGET PROPOSAL
In December of last year I was elected Recording Secretary for the Western States CAP/PAC and selected to attend the National CAP Conference here in Washington, DC.
Prior to leaving and in preparation for the conference, we knew that the President’s 2009 Budget Proposal was being published on February 5th and as in past proposals the C-17 Program was over looked and that Congress would have to fight, once again, to secure the program and get it addressed in the ’09 Budget. Timing was good for this news and our trip to Washington, so I initiated a letter writing campaign for support of the C-17 and to set-up appointments with Senators and Representatives to correspond with our time here in Washington.
We arrived on Saturday morning and began to strategize with other Union Officers, Representatives and Retirees attending the conference from across the country. While many of our CAP Representatives are from the auto industry, there are also Nurses, Teachers and College Students. I brought our focus of aerospace and the C-17 program, our workforce and jobs to the table.
On Tuesday UAW International President, Ron Gettelfinger and the Region 5 Director, Jim Wells made arrangements for me to speak with Public Relations Representatives and the Press in an effort to get our story about the ’09 Budget and the C-17 out to the national media and news. I was prepared with lists, charts, maps and statistics regarding the humanitarian, military and national security aspects of our plane as well as the 8.4 billion dollar impact the shut-down would have on our economy.
Our Representative Linda Sanchez was a speaker at yesterday’s conference; which gave us another opportunity to get additional support in getting our message heard. After the conference and meeting with Representative Sanchez, we went to the Capital Building and spoke with Senator Diane Feinstein. Senator Feinstein and her staff are part of the team supporting funding of the C-17 Program. They released the following statement regarding the ’09 Budget and the C-17: “The C-17 is the workhorse of the U.S. strategic airlift and will continue to be so. But unless the Pentagon begins to fund this critical program, we are in real danger of losing our capacity to produce this tremendous asset and meet the growing transport needs of our future warfighters.” (www.feinstein.senate.gov)
Today we met with Senator Barbara Boxer and briefly spoke to Senator John Warner (R-VA) of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
I will update you on our remaining meetings when I return to Long Beach and in future Air Scoops. In Solidarity, Jacki Harris
JH:tb opeiu #537
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