‘American’ rally set in Warren

JACKSON - Urging people of all ages and job status to mobilize, area unions Monday morning began beating the drums for a rally Saturday to send a message to all leaders that the working class wants solutions to a growing list of problems.

''If you're a young person and afraid of your future, come to this rally,'' Jim Graham, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112 at the General Motors Corp. Lordstown Complex, said during a news conference at the union hall.

''If you're a father who doesn't know if you'll have a job tomorrow, come to this rally. If you're a senior citizen and you're not sure if you'll have a pension and benefits tomorrow, come to this rally,'' he said.

Noting the nation in March had more unemployed workers than manufacturing jobs, Graham said the rally ''is not a union rally. It's not a senior citizen rally. It's an American rally.''

The rally is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. on Courthouse Square in downtown Warren. Graham wouldn't estimate how many people may attend but said it will be ''in the thousands.''

Graham said he hasn't heard of any other community in the nation holding such an event.

''We can use this as a catalyst because we're not the only area hurting,'' he said.

Karen Krolopp, president of International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America Local 717 at auto parts maker Delphi Packard Electric, noted that the union drew 3,000 to 4,000 for a rally in mid-February 2006 after parent Delphi Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

''We hope to get in excess of 8,000,'' she said. ''We're publicizing it all over the state.''

Dave Green, president of the UAW Local 1714 of the Lordstown West Metal Center, said the goal is to ''send a message to Columbus and Washington, and the best way to do that is to have as much power behind us as possible.''

State Rep. Thomas Letson, D-Warren, pointed to United Nations and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that showed American workers are the world's most productive.

''We give the greatest monetary return for our work of anyone,'' he said.

The news conference attracted a wide range of union leaders but also Delphi Packard salaried retirees who were never part of a union but are losing health care benefits and are worried about keeping their pensions.

Noting that it's the first time she's ever been in the union hall, Warren resident Mary Ann Hudzik said hourly and salaried people ''have common ground. We're all concerned about our pensions and benefits that we earned over a lifetime. We're concerned about the stability of the (Mahoning) Valley.''

The spouse of a salaried worker and member of the Alliance for Senior Action, she explained the unusual combination of salaried and hourly workers by observing, ''When you have a lifeboat, you'd be surprised whom you find in it.''

lringler@tribtoday.com