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Dues to Gore, praise to Bush, tariffs on softwood, the bird to the environment, and the hell with Canada: more reasons for Canadian autonomy.
 Bush's Labor Buddy
The president takes a powder on union democracy opinionjournal 01.15.03
The controversy concerns the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and its imperious president, Douglas McCarron. A group of Carpenters' dissidents can't get the Bush Labor Department to agree that a clear reading of labor law would invalidate the Byzantine election rules that Mr. McCarron has put in place to maintain his union control.
Drill Sargeant-Why Bush Loves the Carpenters
thenewrepublic 12.09.02 9 (reg req) also posted at NY Local 157
When Bush Picks Up a Pen, He Drops Names nytimes Dec 2
Bush signs bill to shield insurance industry trivalleyherald Nov 27
Top Bush Union Ally To Return Stock Gains washingtonpost 31 Oct
Bush and the Carpenters Union washingtontimes editorial 27 Oct
McCarron Defends Close Ties With Bush... Construction Labor Report 9 Oct
Bush wields anti-union weapon to end lockout Globe and Mail Oct 9 (more news)
Bush is wooing the unions, but guess where their hearts are NationalReview 11 Oct
Bush Finds a Friend in Carpenters' Union President nytimes 9 Sept (reg. req.)
Bush Economic Forum to Exclude Critics, Officials Say - washingtonpost Aug 9 '02
Bush Courts Carpenters Union in Effort to Build Labor Ties - washingtonpost June 19, 2002
Bush Courts Unions to Split Off Votes
Hoffa's Teamsters, Other 'Hard Hats' Are Being Wooed
In a bit of highly visible symbolism, the White House invited James P. Hoffa, the Teamsters president, to sit in first lady Laura Bush's box during the State of the Union address. Other overtures have been unpublicized. The president of the International Brotherhood of Carpenters recently spent more than two hours chatting with the president on Air Force One. Bush political aides have also met in the West Wing with the heads of such unions as the ironworkers, seafarers, bricklayers and laborers at least once a month, sometimes for lunch in the White House Mess.
full text http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41178-2002Mar30.html
January 17, 2002 Bush Enlists Unions in Push for Energy Plan
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020117-5.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/images/20020117-5.html
President Meets with Labor Leaders to Discuss Energy Policy
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Let me just be to the point. A good energy plan is important for our national security, and it's important for job security. Around the table, I'm honored to be sitting with people who represent thousands of working people. And they asked the same question I asked: What can the federal government do to help people find work? What can we do to create jobs?
And this energy bill that we're working on is a jobs bill. And when we explore for power, U.S. power, U.S. energy in ANWR, we're not only helping us become less dependent on foreign sources of crude oil and foreign sources of energy, we're creating jobs for American workers, jobs so that men and women can put food on the table.
That's the question these two leaders ask all the time: How best can I help the members of my union find work? What can I do to make them -- you know, be able to feed their families. It's the same question I ask. And that's why we're linked up on this issue. We've got Republicans sitting around this table, we've got Democrats sitting around this table, we've probably got some people who don't care about politics sitting around the table. But all of us know that the energy bill that's now stuck in the Senate, that can't get voted on in the Senate, will be good for America. It will be good for our foreign policy, good for our national security, and more importantly, it will be good for jobs.
And so I want to thank you, Jimmy, for your leadership. And Doug, thank you very much. I appreciate you all working with us. I appreciate members of my Cabinet for coming. Together we can show the country that when we work together, we can do what's right, do what's right for the working folks. And so I'm honored you would let me come by. It's a privilege to be around this table. There's no telling what kind of conversations have gone on around this table. (Laughter.)
But it is a huge honor. Thank you, sir. Doug, thank you very much. (Applause.)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush enlisted labor leaders on Thursday to press Democratic allies in the Senate to approve oil drilling in an Alaskan wildlife refuge, saying his energy plan would create jobs.
Proving that politics sometimes does make strange bedfellows, the Republican president received a warm welcome at the Capitol Hill headquarters of the 1.4 million-strong Teamsters Union, which supports his proposal to open part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to exploration.
``I've been practicing the Heimlich maneuver all week long in case anything goes wrong,'' joked Teamsters' leader James Hoffa in a reference to Bush's run-in with a pretzel on Sunday when he fainted after swallowing the snack the wrong way.
The White House on Thursday denied allegations its energy plan was crafted to benefit Enron and also rebuffed calls for the release of information about contacts between Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force and energy companies, including Enron.
The White House says it did nothing to help the company and did nothing wrong.
``GOOD FOR AMERICA''
``We've got Republicans sitting around this table, we've got Democrats sitting around this table, we've probably gotsome people who don't care about politics sitting around this table,'' Bush said. ``But all of us know that the energy bill that's stuck in the Senate, that can't get voted on in the Senate, will be good for America.
Union official Doug McCarron told Bush he would appeal to Daschle, saying: ``We need jobs and we need a strong economy.''
2001news stories:
http://www.coxnews.com/washingtonbureau/staff/deans/05-15-01BUSHENERGY15COX.html
Bush received praise, as well, from Douglas McCarron, president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. "Look, we're union members, but we're also Americans," said McCarron. "If it helps America, we're going to work with this administration."
http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/05/15/cheney.interview/
May 15, 2001
WASHINGTON -- Organized labor, which has complained of being shut out of the Bush White House, is on the inside when it comes to energy policy. Unions see the potential for thousands of new jobs in the White House plan to build new power plants and transmission lines.
"I'm for my members, and the AFL-CIO members who are paying too much for gas, for electricity, and the problem is there is a lack of supply," said Douglas McCarron, president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. "That's an American issue, it's not an American labor issue."
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/rn20010519.shtml
WOOING LABOR
After meeting at the White House Monday with representatives of 22 labor unions, Vice President Dick Cheney requested and conducted a private meeting with two of them: Teamsters President James P. Hoffa and Carpenters President Doug McCarron, both of whom supported Al Gore for president last year.
Hoffa and McCarron back President Bush's proposed oil drilling in Alaska and expansion of nuclear power. But Hoffa urged a change in the administration's policies on ergonomics and U.S.-Mexican trucking regulations. Cheney was non-committal.
McCarron has told the White House that the Carpenters Union is more interested in job training for its members than in playing politics. That implies criticism of AFL-CIO President John Sweeney's bond with the Democratic Party.
http://www.insightmag.com/main.cfm?include=detail&storyid=211006
Already the environmentalists have singled out high-profile recommendations - such as drilling for oil and natural gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or restarting the nuclear-power industry - as key targets and have vowed to make them core issues in the 2002 elections.
But Cheney has had some success. Three days before releasing the plan, he briefed labor leaders at the White House, winning high marks from some of Al Gore's most powerful and effective supporters during last year's presidential campaign. Teamsters President James P. Hoffa endorsed the Arctic drilling plan, which he estimated would create 25,000 jobs for Teamsters workers involved in building pipelines and transportation, and another 700,000 jobs nationwide for other workers.
"We like a lot of things" about the plan, Hoffa told reporters after meeting with Cheney. "We do believe we need more nuclear plants [and] refining capacity." Douglas McCarron, president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, said the Cheney plan "sounded good." McCarron's union actively campaigned against the Bush/Cheney ticket during last year's election.
http://www.iuoe.org/history/News/wsj0515.htm
Douglas McCarron, president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, said that what he heard "sounded good . . . We can build those plants."
On Labor Day September 3, 2001 UBC GP Doug McCarron was thanked three different times, in three different speeches, by US President George Bush. The first was during a tour at the Northern Wisconsin Council of Carpenters training center in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. The second was at a rally at the airport in Green Bay, Wisconsin (where McCarron joined Bush on Air Force One en route to Detroit). And the third speech was at a Teamsters Barbeque at the Teamsters Headquarters in Detroit.
What follows are Bush's references to McCarron. The complete text of all speeches are available at http://www.whitehouse.gov
President Meets With Northern Wisconsin Council of Carpenters
"Doug, I want to thank you for a couple of things. First of all, I want to thank you for your leadership. Doug is a plain-spoken fellow. There's no question where he stands. (Laughter.) Which is good. There's also no question of where his heart is, and his heart is with the working men and women of the country and I appreciate that, Doug. (Applause.)
There are a lot of talkers in Washington, D.C., a lot of fancy footwork people. But there's also some doers. And Doug puts his mind to getting something done, he can get it done. And, as he said, sometimes we agree, sometimes we don't. But I will tell you, we'll always answer his phone; we'll always listen to what he has to say.
He brought a severe problem to my administration that relates to the carpenters and hard working people of America. It had to do with pension benefits, that the pension plans weren't fair for the carpenters and for the working people. So we sat down with Doug and his folks and worked with some members of Congress; and part of the tax relief plan that we got passed is a part that Doug had a lot to do with, which is pension reform, 401(k) reform, IRA reform -- reform that's good for everybody in America who works with their hands, who works every single day.
Doug McCarron is a can-do guy and I'm honored to call him friend and I'm honored to be able to work with him on behalf of the working people of America. Thank you, sir. (Applause.)"
Remarks by the President Upon Departure from Green Bay, Wisconsin
"Today is Labor Day. We had the honor of going down the road to meet with some carpenters and joiners, to thank them for their hard work, to remind our fellow Americans that the strength of our country is the fact that we've got hardworking people all across our land, people who aren't afraid of labor, people who work hard to enhance their communities."
"Traveling with me today is a good, solid leader. He's the President of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, a man named Doug McCarron, I'm proud to call him friend. The carpenters are proud to call him boss. And he's a good American. Doug, thank you for coming. (Applause.)"
President Discusses Economy at Teamsters Barbecue in Detroit, Michigan
And I'll tell you another proud American is traveling with me, and we just came from the Green Bay, Wisconsin area, and Doug McCarron is the President of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. Where's Doug? There he is. (Applause.) He gave them a stem-winder this morning. But we were there to celebrate the carpenters of America, as well.
And I understand we don't necessarily agree on every single issue; but we agree to listen. And I agree about this: that you've got a good man running the Teamsters in Jimmy Hoffa. (Applause.) I don't know if that will help him or hurt him in his reelection campaign. (Laughter.) But let me tell you something about him. Like Doug, if he's got an issue, he brings it forward in a straightforward way with the union workers -- with the union workers in mind.
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