SMWIA Statement On Phony and Miselading Outrage From Right Wing Groups

[Omaha Steve]

No link. Labor email.

Recently, a conservative website misrepresented the actions of an SMWIA local union that provided unemployed members, and only unemployed members, with a stipend for when they invested their time in assisting their local union in its advocacy efforts. The reporter, who failed to contact this organization, seemed to insinuate that this union was offering to compensate bystanders who would protest a conservative conference held last week in Washington, DC.

The SMWIA believes in leaving none of its members behind – especially those experiencing the economic hardship caused by the malfeasance of the bankers and Wall Street profiteers who crashed the American economy in 2008 and whose interests were being represented at the conference members were protesting.

The 140,000 dues paying members of the SMWIA membership are the backbone of this long standing organization. This Union takes seriously the principle of standing by our own, not only on the jobsite, but when they and workers across America are unemployed due to no fault of their own. We will not apologize for this and will continue to do so in the future.

Unlike the right wing billionaires who sponsored the CPAC event and showered selected puppet politicians with millions of dollars of undisclosed donations, the SMWIA is proud to provide stipends to unemployed members for their service on behalf of the Union and working families during tough economic times. We urge those unrepresented workers and even activists on the right, who have been ignored by their employers and leaders in their movement, to look to the benefit of belonging to an organization that will stand with them through both the good times and the bad.