Thank you, Randy.

I know you’ve had a long day and I’m guessing that about the last thing anyone wants is to have sit through a long speech.

There’s a story I heard that Ben Baldanza over at Spirit Air was giving a speech to a business group down in Miami.

 He promised he wouldn’t go for more than 20 minutes -- and ended up talking for an hour.

 When he got back to his office in Mirimar he just went crazy on the PR guy who wrote it for him.

 “Didn’t I tell you that speech should only be 20 minutes long? I was up there for an hour!”

 The PR guy was absolutely stunned. 

“Gee, Mr. Baldanza, I wrote you a 20-minute speech ...oh, and I also gave you those two extra copies you asked for!"

 Now, I can’t vouch for whether that story’s totally accurate, but, from what I’ve heard, Ben Baldanza isn’t exactly the sharpest tack in the box.

 And I can’t think of any better example of that than his refusal to recognize that the single, greatest asset Spirit has ever had are the men and women who work there!

That’s why I want to tell Randy -- and all of you -- that the AFL-CIO is going to stand with ALPA every step of the way in your fight to win the contract at Spirit that the members of this union deserve.

 And I’ll tell you why:

It’s because there’s only one way organized labor ever won before and only one way we’re going to start winning again.

 It’s not by turning on each other; it’s by turning to each other. 

It’s by mobilizing, together!

 It’s by organizing, together!

 It’s by standing shoulder-to-shoulder and fighting, together!

The men and women of ALPA have always been there for the labor movement, and I’m here to tell you the labor movement will be there for you!

Now, I know that there’s probably not a lot I can tell you about the nuts and bolts of being a union secretary-treasurer that you don’t already know -- or that Randy and his team aren’t telling you.

But there is one thing that I do want to tell you.

And, maybe, it goes without saying.

It’s that while being a secretary-treasurer often means being buried in paperwork to the point where you’re seeing LM forms in your dreams, the reality is that your work is absolutely crucial to the well being not only of your local ...  or even ALPA as a whole ...  but to organized labor itself.

Let me explain why.

There are really two reasons.

First, you have the unique responsibility of seeing to it that the resources of your local are used to the greatest benefit of your members.

That may seem obvious, but that  doesn’t mean it’s easy.

In truth it’s anything but.

By definition, unions are compassionate organizations -- and when executive boards and leaders at every level are faced with having to make choices about whether to invest in providing more representation…

or giving the office secretary a raise...

buying a laptop...

or helping other union brothers and sisters who are on strike and could use your support...

or any one of a series of other priorities...

our first instinct is to say: “yes.”

If you’re a secretary-treasurer you know what I’m talking about because you’re the people who have to cut the checks.

And, when the dollars aren’t there to pay for all the priorities the local has, you’re the folks who have the wonderful job of saying: “we can’t afford it.”

Sometimes I think we ought to eliminate the title of “secretary-treasurer” and just call the job what it really is: tightwad.

And being a tightwad isn’t fun.

And I’m speaking from experience.

You know, if you’re involved with your central labor council chances are that you haven’t seen what the day-to-day impact has been of the SEIU’s effort to create a new labor federation.

Because of the Solidarity Charters created by the AFL-CIO we were able to protect much of the labor movement at the local level.

But, at the national level, it meant a loss to the AFL-CIO of $_____________.

What was the upshot?

It meant programs were rolled back.

Departments were consolidated.

But, more significant than any of that, in human terms, it meant that a hell of a lot of good people lost their jobs.

But that experience -- as awful and as painful as it was -- also led the AFL-CIO to reexamine its priorities.

There were some people who thought we should eliminate our health and safety program.

Sure, that would have saved some money, but it would have cost workers lives.

There were other people who said we shouldn’t reduce the number of our field staff.

And, I’ll tell you, those are some talented women and men; but we saw where some of their work could best be handled by state federations.

And cuts were made.

That’s how we proceeded.

We evaluated everything we do.

And, when it was over, we didn’t just come up with a budget; we more clearly defined the priorities of the AFL-CIO than ever before.

Did it make a difference?

Despite the financial hit the AFL-CIO took, we were able to mount the most effective grassroots political mobilization in our history.

Not only did we expand our lead in the House.

Not only did we win a solid, progressive majority in the Senate.

Thanks to the labor movement’s efforts -- and that includes ALPA -- the name of the 44th president of the United States is Barack Obama!

We stretched every dollar we had.

We did more with less.

And, together, we were able to deliver what our affiliates told us they wanted.

Now, I would never wish that any ALPA local would ever have to go through what we did, nationally, at the AFL-CIO.

But, I’ll tell you something: there is value in officers having to look at every line item in a budget -- every penny -- and ask themselves and each other the tough questions:

“How will this expenditure improve the lives of our members?”

“Will it make their jobs safer?”

“Will it help protect their economic security?”

“Will it help see to it that the Ben Baldanzas of the world treat ALPA members with the dignity and respect they deserve?”

And there’s no one, no one, better positioned to raise those questions than the secretary-treasurer.

Now, I said there were two reasons why your work is so critically important.

The first is the one I just described.

The second is organizing and growing the labor movement.

Over the course of our fight for the Employee Free Choice Act we’ve talked a lot about how, by changing labor laws, we’ll be in the position of organizing the millions of workers in this country who would join a union today -- if only they had an opportunity.

We did polling and found that as many as 60 million Americans would do just that.

But, even though they say they would join a union, the reality is that, in a lot of cases, it doesn’t take much to turn them against us.

And one of the things that absolutely turns potential members against us is hearing about union dues being misspent.

Twenty years ago a professor at the University of Hawaii surveyed 462 high school students to get their basic impressions of unions.

Among the things they told him was that unions are corrupt and greedy; that union officials are overpaid; and that union dues are too high.

Even though we’ve made a lot of gains, those attitudes continue to linger.

It’s often just under the surface.

So, what’s the best way to counteract those attitudes?

Any suggestions?

Well, I’ll tell you: the most effective way to overcome anti-union sentiment like that is when members talk about their personal experience.

It’s when they describe the impact the union’s made on their lives – and how unions aren’t a business or some racket: instead we’re organizations of workers who are working to win economic security for our selves and our families.

To you and me that’s pretty elementary.

But the reality today is that the rate of union representation is so low that a lot of Americans not only have never come into contact with unions themselves, they don’t even know any union members.

Given that, even the most far-fetched story about unions can take root if people hear it from someone they trust.

If a member is angry because he thinks his dues money is being used to send people off to some lavish resort, word of that’s going to get around.

It’s going to be repeated and it’s going to be exaggerated -- and I can guarantee you that, sooner or later, it’s going to be brought up during an organizing drive.

It’s like the Internet: once you post something on a website it’s out there forever.

It becomes an urban legend.

But there’s a flip side.

It’s that when members think the officers of their local are tightwads -- who don’t waste a nickel of dues money -- they’re going to push back when they hear the lies and the misrepresentations.

And that can make the difference between winning an organizing drive, and losing one.

And I’ll tell you something else: there aren’t many people who are more trusted -- and whose attitudes about unions can carry more weight -- than airline pilots.

Well, I wanted to make sure we had some time for some questions and answers.

This ought to be as much an opportunity for me to listen to you as it is for you to have to listen to me.

But, before opening up, let me share one thought with you.

It’s that, today, organized labor -- including ALPA -- has a unique opportunity.

President Obama has made it clear to me personally that he will work to see to it that American workers once again have the right to organize.

Even more, the American public is looking for new approaches to making this economy work.

We’ve all heard the right-wing attack President Obama as being a socialist?

Well, guess what?

Thanks in large part to those attacks a poll found that 20 percent of Americans now say they prefer socialism to capitalism -- and another 27 percent say they’re undecided!

I think that's why you don't hear the Republicans calling the President a socialist much anymore.

Americans are hungry for change.

They want an economy that works for working people.

Well, brothers and sisters, this is our moment to be that change.

This is our opportunity to show America that just as unions built the middle-class once before we can do it again today.

Who can make that happen?

It won’t be guys like Randy or me.

It’s you and your members.

It’s within your power to see to it that unions are as much a part of America’s future as we were its past.

So, while I want to praise you for your commitment and the work you’ve taken on, I also want to challenge you to help the labor movement take advantage of this moment.

Because if we do, all of us here will be able to look at our kids and our grandchildren and be able to tell them that the America we’re leaving to them is as good as the America our parents left to us!