In a stirring keynote speech to the USW’s Constitutional Convention, International President Leo W. Gerard called on workers to elect Sen. Barack Obama president of the United States and to continue global solidarity that’s improving the lives of workers everywhere.
“It’s well past time to challenge the power of today’s global capital – before it does any more damage to the lives of working people, before it succeeds completely in putting a 21st Century face on the Robber Baron values of yesteryear,” Gerard said to a gathering of more than 3,000 USW members in Las Vegas. “Globalization is the driving force behind this New Age of Robber Barons.”
(You can read more of Gerard’s thoughts on this new age of Robber Barons in his blog.)
In his speech, Gerard said that Steelworker union sisters and brothers share “the powerful belief that every human being, no matter where they work – no matter their gender, their race or their creed – every worker has the right to be treated with dignity and respect, and the right to retire with security.”
Gerard told delegates, “This is our moment to challenge that shell game and reassert our rightful place as champions of the Middle Class.” He said Republican presidential candidate John McCain offers the same anti-worker, anti-middle class ideas that George W. Bush has.
“We can make a different choice,” Gerard said. “We can make history by working and voting for Barack Obama.”
Read the full text of Gerard’s speech here.
