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| Marie Lausch, president of Connecticut statewide UE Local 222 and a member of UE’s General Executive Board, and Bob South, president of UE Local 234, trustee of the national union, and a member of the Vermont House of Representatives, on their way to deliver a stack of petitions more than two inches thick to both the House and Senate Banking Committees. The topic: why Wells-Fargo Bank refuses to use bailout money to help save jobs at a viable plant -- as Congress intended. |
On Thursday, two UE leaders delivered to Congress the messages of hundreds of supporters of the struggle to defend the jobs of Quad City Die Casting workers. Marie Lausch, president of Connecticut statewide UE Local 222 and a member of UE’s General Executive Board, was joined by Bob South, president of UE Local 234, trustee of the national union, and a member of the Vermont House of Representatives, in delivering a stack of petitions more than two inches thick. Signed by community and labor leaders across the country, the petitions declared that “Wells Fargo is a Roadblock to Recovery!”
Lausch and South delivered a set of the petitions to the chairs of the two congressional committees with oversight authority over the banking industry: Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), who chairs the House Financial Services Committee.
Besides bringing UE Local 1174’s fight against Wells Fargo to Capitol Hill, the UE leaders were in Washington on another mission – lobbying in support of single-payer healthcare reform. They represented the UE Northeast Region at a rally and day of lobbying organized by Healthcare Now!, on the occasion of the 44th anniversary of Medicare. During the day Marie Lausch talked briefly with Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, and she spoke at length with her own Congress member, Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT.) Both Lausch and South met with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and with Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT.) Welch welcomed Bob South to Capitol Hill as a fellow Vermont elected official, and personally escorted the UE delegation to the House chamber, on what was one of the most hectic Congressional days in recent memory.
Lausch and South were accompanied on their Congressional visits by UE Political Action Director Chris Townsend. During a break in the proceedings of the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearings, Townsend spoke with Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), who was very helpful to UE members during the Republic Windows and Doors sit-in, and who is now a strong advocate for UE members at QCDC. Response to the online petition against Wells Fargo’s attack on UE members’ jobs has exceeded all previous UE online petitions, indicating overwhelming public support for the stance of UE Local 1174 members. ”I was proud to be able to represent UE on Capitol Hill today, and tell lawmakers not only to fix healthcare but to give Wells Fargo Bank a good shaking, too,” commented Marie Lausch. “It was my honor to stand up for our sisters and brothers at QCDC, because that’s the kind of union we are.”