Party of Lincoln should reaffirm value of workers

We Republicans are smarting from our massive losses and the rejection of our leadership on the national level. Yet we continue to follow the path to ruin with regard to vilifying American workers and maintaining a mindless anti-union stance. Many of our Republican leadership have spoken against labor as if they were the problem, most especially in the car industry. As a union member myself, and a captain in an airline that has survived bankruptcy, I fully understand the roles of labor and management.

Our leadership has helped to approve a $700 billion package to bail out the bankers and investment managers who created this economic debacle, and established very little oversight or instruction on how that money is distributed. But as soon as we started talking about 2.5 million workers in the car industry, many Republicans said no to any help until the workers took a significant pay cut.

We Republicans are the party of Lincoln, and Abraham Lincoln staunchly supported labor and the working people of this great nation. In December 1861 he said, “Labor is the superior of capital and deserves much higher consideration.” He stood above the fray and was truly a uniter, not a divider, in that troubled time. He recognized that a hard worker could eventually earn enough to establish his own business and then hire his own workers — capitalism at its finest.

Now we as Republicans must recognize the economic landscape as it is, not as we want it to be. General Motors, Chrysler and Ford have failed to provide fuel- efficient and smart cars for our nation, not because the assembly line workers could not properly assemble those cars but because the managers and corporate officers planned, designed and approved the wrong vehicles.

We Americans can build anything better than any other country. We have the demonstrated talent in engineering, machining and workers to build the most impressive space vehicles that operate on the moon and Mars. We can certainly design and build great electric, hybrid and fuel cell cars and, therefore, greatly reduce our dependence of foreign oil.

But it takes excellent leadership in management, something that our car industry has not had. Instead we have grossly overpaid and underperforming management and corporate leadership in many of our industries. We must be realistic and recognize where the problems are, in management and leadership, not in the blue-collar workers who put in a hard day’s work and are having trouble surviving in our current economic meltdown.

If we are to brag about being the party of Lincoln, we should try to emulate his words and deeds, and fully appreciate labor and its contributions to the strength and wealth of our nation. As Republicans we should not just chant about smaller government and lower spending, but concentrate on smart, efficient and competent government.

We must provide the money to our domestic car industry to allow them the time to reorganize and come out as a stronger and more efficient industry that is truly competitive on the world stage. We should consider this as an investment in our country. It would allow us to move toward energy independence, and also preserve our industrial base and keep over 2.5 million American jobs. And in case it escapes the average critic, a worker with a job buys things like cars and houses, and pays taxes; those without a job drain our treasury through unemployment benefits and welfare.

We Republicans must stay smart and support our American industries and let them have the opportunity to get back on their feet, and get back in to the capitalist ring and compete with the rest of the world. Lincoln would approve.

• Rick Williams, a Delta pilot from Fayetteville, is a member of the Fayette County Republican Party and belongs to the Air Line Pilots Association.