OPINION: If you voted for Trump, you paved the way for an all-out attack on unions

By FRANK CHRISTENSEN
General President
International Union of Elevator Constructors

I have been sounding the alarm for years now. I know that some of you who voted for Trump have been holding out hope that your vote would not be abused by the person you trusted to run our country, but that is exactly what has happened.

By virtue of the check you collect each week, the union card you carry in your pocket, and the local union that is proud to call you brother or sister, you are union… and President Trump is no friend to unions. Look no further than the latest ruling from the NLRB, the board appointed by Trump.

MAKING IT EASIER FOR EMPLOYERS TO KICK OUT UNIONS
The NLRB, rather Trump’s NLRB, has just passed a ruling that makes it easier for employers to kick out unions.

Now employers can file a pending withdrawal of a union a full 90 days before a contract expires so that the minute the contract expires the union is forced out. The ousted union will have to work its way back into the employer from scratch and will only have 45 days in which to file a petition for a new election. This ruling rolls clocks back on everything that unions have worked for. This is how a Trump-appointed National Labor Relations Board works for Organized Labor.

Let’s not forget that the NLRB’s General Counsel is seeking to ban the use of inflatables and stationary banners used by countless unions during jobsite actions. The General Counsel is asserting that inflatables can feel threatening and are a form of intimidation while the banners can be misleading.

The irony in this is incredible because intimidation and misinformation have been the hallmarks of President Trump’s presidency. Isn’t this an ultimate display of hypocrisy? Don’t you think the words of the supposed Leader of the Free World have far more impact, more far-reaching impact, than an inanimate inflatable and banner? Another double standard.

WHAT WE STAND TO LOSE WITH ANOTHER FOUR YEARS OF TRUMP
So as we continue to look ahead at the next presidential election, I have to remind you of how blessed we are, or rather, what we stand to lose with another four years of Trump.

These past few years have been very difficult for Labor, moreso than perhaps most of you realize. The International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC) is incredibly fortunate in so many ways and has been able to, for the most part, weather these challenging years probably better than some of our fellow unions.

I am grateful every single day for the position we are in with our pension plan, for the supportive membership of the IUEC, for our International and Local Union officers, for our training programs, and for our ability to fund such things as organizing efforts and the Work Preservation Fund.

• When our market share began to slip, we were able to put more organizers on staff and bring new members and contractors into our fold, thereby weakening the power of our non-union counterparts.
• When our pension was under attack due to misguided proposals coming out of the Senate, our membership put pen to paper and action in motion to voice our concerns about the damaging proposals and, for now, those proposals have been put on hold.
• Our Labor Committee was able to negotiate our current contract a full four months ahead of time, and today our members are working under what is considered one of the best contracts in our history.

I am not sure if everyone fully understands how impressive all of these achievements are given the current climate, stemming directly from the White House, toward Organized Labor. I know there are some who think we should be doing more or getting more, and I would love to get “more” for our members. However, I am intimately aware of how hard it is for Labor and I am proud that we have been able to do what we have in the face of a bully in the White House and an anti-Labor Senate.

USE THE POWER OF YOUR VOTE
For those of you who think we should be doing and getting more, imagine what we could accomplish with a Labor-friendly president and Senate.

Interestingly, that could be accomplished pretty easily. All we need is Americans, our own members, to use the power of their vote to benefit working men and women. A vote for Trump and his cohorts just isn’t going to do that.

President Trump’s rally cry is to “Make America Great Again.” A quick review of America’s history will show that America’s middle-class was strongest in the mid-1960’s, coincidentally the same period of time that union density was at its peak. I think an America that has a strong middle-class, bolstered by a strong Labor Movement, is an America that’s great, don’t you? But let’s be honest, that is not Trump’s America. His America is one with suppressed wages to boost corporate profits.

We should be using our time and resources to move our union forward, to elevate working families, not playing defense and fighting off efforts to take our rights and benefits away.

And in that same vein, for the benefit of our entire nation, we should have leaders in office who are focused on moving the U.S. forward, not stripping freedoms from those whose minds and hands have built this country. Why go backwards, or even tread water, when we should be moving forward?

Just as there are some in our ranks who want more from our contracts and initiatives, I want more from our country and our leaders, and I definitely want better in the voting booth from my brothers and sisters of Organized Labor.

(Frank Christensen is the general president of the 25,000-member International Union of Elevator Constructors. He was the longest-serving business manager of Elevator Constructors Local 2 in its history and was the chairman of the Illinois Elevator Safety Board from its inception in 2003 to 2013.)