Machinists President Renews Call for Second Stimulus

WASHINGTON, July 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a three-page letter to
President Barack Obama, Machinists union President Tom Buffenbarger made a
strong case for a speedy sequel to the initial economic stimulus program to
revive the nation's manufacturing sector and create millions of new jobs.

To read the full letter from IAM President Buffenbarger to President Obama,
click here:
http://www.goiam.org/publications/imail/pdfs/06_26_2009_JobsNow_LTR.pdf

"To reignite the engines of growth, we cannot rely on 'off the shelf'
appropriations based on existing authorizing legislation," wrote Buffenbarger.
"Instead we must devise new policies and more carefully targeted programs that
can generate jobs now. Fortunately, there are historical precedents for the
kind of massive job creation that is needed immediately."

Citing the successful programs employed by Franklin Roosevelt during the Great
Depression, Buffenbarger called for an updated version of FDR's Works Progress
Administration.

"President Roosevelt's basic strategy can be re-engineered for the modern
manufacturing sector," said Buffenbarger. "Today's unemployed can be put to
work renovating factories and installing new equipment; devising new
financing, marketing and sales packages for local businesses and reinventing
our decaying skills-delivery system. We can jump-start depressed local
economies by letting counties and communities hire the unemployed with federal
dollars."

The need for additional and expedited economic stimulus is gaining increasing
support, with more than 30.2 million still unemployed or underemployed in the
United States. The initial $787 billion economic stimulus package, which took
nearly four months to craft and enact, remains largely unspent. "The wheels of
government grind too slowly to reverse the momentum of such massive
unemployment in the coming year -- unless new and far more aggressive measures
are taken," said Buffenbarger.

"America's manufacturing jobs are worth fighting for," said Buffenbarger.
"These jobs are the key to a middle-class life for millions. A second,
targeted stimulus package will give America's manufacturing sector -- and all
those whose livelihoods are tied to it -- the fighting chance it deserves. And
it will ignite the long-term growth and sustained job creation that our nation
so desperately needs."

The IAM is among the nation's largest industrial trade unions, representing
nearly 700,000 active and retired members under more than 5,000 contracts in
aerospace, transportation, shipbuilding and defense-related industries. For
more information, visit www.goiam.org.

SOURCE International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

Frank Larkin of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace
Workers, +1-301-967-4520 (office), +1-202-285-3831 (mobile), flarkin@iamaw.org
(email)