Support for the US Auto Industry Workers

WHEREAS, the US auto industry, through its manufacturers, dealers, suppliers and other directly related businesses, has been the economic engine that has driven our country's prosperity for a century, as well as being the greatest contributor to the creation of America's middle class; and

WHEREAS, the US auto industry has been the central employer in thousands of towns and communities whose local businesses, schools, hospitals, roads, police and fire protection and other infrastructure depends on the revenue it provides; and

WHEREAS, the US auto industry and its unions have long provided opportunity for Americans mired in poor conditions without connections or wealth to escape poverty, through hard work and determination, to realize their piece of the American Dream, and more importantly, to earn their self-esteem; and

WHEREAS, the US auto industry, through its unions, has consistently led the struggle to provide a fair day's pay for a fair day's work, for better wages and advancement opportunities based on skills, knowledge, hard work and seniority rather than race, religion, cronyism or other discriminatory factors; and

WHEREAS, the people of the US auto industry and its unions have historically been in the front lines of the battle for social justice and civil and human rights, and

WHEREAS, the US auto industry is under attack by some members of Congress and other politicians, lobbyists, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Fund and others that have acted concertedly through the expenditure of millions of dollars, the use of media and other unscrupulous methods to undermine the men and women working in the auto industry and their unions; and

WHEREAS, certain foreign auto companies that are unionized in their own countries and whose employees there enjoy a standard of living in their societies greater than their counterparts in the US, take advantage of weak US labor laws to viciously, and often unlawfully fight unionization of their workers in the US; and

WHEREAS, the US auto industry, through its employees' innovation and knowledge, has spawned technologies in widespread use in other industries, including space and defense applications that has cast the US as a leader in the world, and

WHEREAS, the destruction of the US auto industry, the arsenal of democracy, will jeopardize our industrial base and put the US at the mercy of other countries in providing the necessary vehicles, equipment and machinery to defend our homeland.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, as an organization and as individuals, support legislation and other government efforts to ensure the survival of the US auto industry; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we, as an organization and as individuals, commit to fight legislation that may be presented to further weaken or destroy the US auto industry; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we, as an organization and as individuals, commit to fight efforts to weaken or eliminate labor laws that protect workers and their right to organize, or to undermine collective bargaining agreements that provide a fair day's pay for a fair day's work; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that we, as an organization and as individuals, commit to support the Employee Free Choice Act, to allow workers to make a personal choice to organize without relentless and often unlawful attempts by management to affect their decision by use of intimidation.