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Dear
Council AFA-CWA Members,
Time is Now to Register to Vote!
As both the Republican and Democratic Conventions come to a close and political
campaigns enter their final weeks it is important that each of us take the time
to register to vote in the upcoming election. If you have moved or have not
voted recently, now is the time to register to vote.
There are many websites that make it easy to register. One of the most popular
is www.rockthevote.com.
It only takes a few minutes to register so that you can vote in this critical
election. If you know that you will be flying or out of town on Election Day
please take the time to get your absentee ballots early or find out if early
voting is permitted in your area. Many of us live in battlegrounds states and
the stakes could not be higher. As we witnessed in the Virginia Senate election
in 2006, labor made the difference and most likely will make the difference in
the upcoming election.
You also will be receiving information from both you LEC and International
Office concerning the record on candidates running for the House, Senate and the
White House as it relates to flight attendant and labor issues. We recognize
that voting is a very personal decision and many factors go into how you vote.
AFA-CWA and your LEC officers only focus on flight attendant and labor issues.
We review their voting record as well as their opinion on upcoming flight
attendant issues.
Once again, please take the time to register to vote and secure your absentee
ballot today.
Race for the White House
It has been over 18 months that most of the major candidates declared their
intention to be the next President of the United States and in a few short weeks
it will all be over. For those of us who follow politics as if it were a
religion it has been a ridiculously long campaign that seemed to have no end,
but on November 4th it finally will. Prior to the recent AFA-CWA Board of
Directors (BOD) meeting, the Legislative/Political Policy Committee (which I am
the Chairperson) reviewed but records of the candidates running for the White
House. The committee carefully reviews the records of all candidates prior to
endorsing a candidate regardless if they identify themselves as a Republican or
Democrat. The criteria that the committee looks at is their stance on flight
attendant legislative issues. Being bipartisan in our endorsements has been in
the best interest of AFA-CWA and the flight attendants it represents. Without so
AFA-CWA would never have been successful with our FMLA fight in the House. A
402-9 vote doesn't happen by only supporting a single party.
With all that being said the committee recommended to the AFA-CWA BOD to endorse
Sen. Barack Obama. When reviewing the records of the two candidates they could
not have been further apart on our issues. Sen. Obama supports our fight for
FMLA coverage, the right to join a union and bankruptcy reform so that what has
occurred too many of the members of AFA-CWA during the recent bankruptcies will
not happen again to name a few. Sen. McCain on the other had does not support
our fight for FMLA coverage, believes that airline employees should not have the
right to negotiate their own contract and believes that the flight crew fatigue
study is waste of tax payer dollars. These are just a few of the issues looked
at but it became clear to the committee that only one candidate running for
President supported our legislative agenda. While I am sure that some members
would wish that we were not involved in Presidential politics, sitting on the
sideline is not an option. The next President will name the next Secretary of
Labor, the Department of Transportation and administrator of the FAA to name a
few. All of these positions have a direct effort on the day-to-day lives of the
members of AFA-CWA.
With all that in mind the AFA-CWA BOD unanimously endorsed Barack Obama and
pledged to register our members, provided voter information on the candidates
and get our members out to vote on November 4th. For those members living in
battleground states you will be receiving what appears to be an endless parade
of information. It should serve as another example that every vote counts and it
will all be over in November. Please take the time to register to vote today! We
know that when flight attendants and labor vote, we win.
In Solidarity,
Alin Boswell –
Council 41 President
Alin@afausairways.org
Stephen Schembs –
Council 41 Secretary
SSchembs@afausairways.org
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