Thomas buffenbarger biography
•
Does Labor Need Another Wimpy?
When Carter let unions down on labor law reform and other legislative priorities in the late ’70s, Winpisinger wasn’t afraid to organize within the Democratic Party to challenge him from the left. “To me,” he told an IAM conference in 1978, “President Carter is through. He’s a weak, vacillating, and ineffective President.”
The AFL-CIO was headed, at the time, by George Meany, an octogenarian cold warrior. As Halley reports, “Wimpy was disgusted by what he viewed as Meany’s capitulation to Carter’s weakness on labor issues.” He became a leader of “the dump Jimmy Carter and dump George Meany forces.” In 1980, he backed an ill-fated presidential primary run against Carter by Ted Kennedy who was, perceived by many, as being more liberal and labor-friendly. Now, thirty-one years later, some Obama supporters are so disillusioned that a few have even called for a Kennedy or Gene McCarthy-style protest candidacy against Obama ne
•
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
North American trade union
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is an AFL–CIO/CLC trade union representing over 600,000 workers as of 2024 in more than 200 industries with most of its membership in the United States and Canada.[2]
Origin
[edit]On May 5, 1888, Thomas W. Talbot, a railroadmachinist in Atlanta, Georgia, founded the Order of United Machinists and Mechanical Engineers. Talbot and 18 others had been members in the Knights of Labor. Talbot believed that a union needed to be formed for railroad machinists that would resist wage cuts. He wanted to provide insurance against unemployment, illness, and accidents but also wanted railroad machinists to be recognized for their craft skill. Unlike the Knights of Labor, who accepted everyone, Talbot's union accepted only white US citizens, preferably native-born. The union excluded blacks, women, and non-citizens,
•
R. Thomas Buffenbarger
American labor leader
R. Thomas Buffenbarger | |
|---|---|
Buffenbarger speaking at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 2008 | |
| Born | 1950 (age 74–75) |
| Occupation | President of the IAM |
| Spouse | Linda |
| Children | Amy and Andrew |
Robert Thomas "Tom" Buffenbarger is an American labor leader and former president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM).[1][2]
Background
[edit]Buffenbarger is a member of the executive council of the AFL-CIO and a member of the Economic Policy Institute's board of directors, serves as chairman of the Labor Advisory Committee to the U.S. Trade Representative, and fryst vatten a past member of the U.S. Treasury Department's Advisory Committee to the International Monetary Fund. Buffenbarger also once served on the National Advisory Board of the Apollo Alliance and was one of the original 130 founders of the Campaign for America's Future.[3]
Buffenbarger is a