Time To Reap an Industry Field of Political Sustainability

As this column is being written, Tri-state area voters are readying to go to the polls and cast their choices for a Garden State governor, New York City mayor, and many new (or incumbent) legislators.

Their decisions in large parts will be impacted more this year than in any previous ones with a more discerning eye aimed toward the economy. New York State lost 18,300 private sector jobs in September alone (3 percent of its workforce), keeping the state’s unemployment rate steady at 8.9 percent. New Jersey’s jobless rate hit 9.8 percent, a 32-year high with a job loss of 12,000. Layoffs within printing, publishing and advertising firms, as well as our supplier sectors, have been themselves significant.

But no matter the election outcomes, the time has never been more critical for printers and other Printing News readers to get involved in making their individual and industry-collective voices heard.

The parental adage about the squeaky wheel getting the oil is really true—it’s why organized labor has such influence. Union members utilize a constant “in your face” presence in statehouses and Capitol Hill. This is not to say that business organizations such as Printing Industries Alliance, its parent Printing Industries of America and others are not equally visible—they advocate strongly on your behalf at all times also and have been instrumental in keeping numerous bills that could harm your ability to do business at bay. But printers and graphic communicators by nature don’t rock the boat publicly—it’s time, though, that they do.

The importance of legislators hearing directly from you—the business owner or the employee—can make all the difference in the world on how policy is crafted and enacted. Have an opinion or a suggestion? Be pro-active. Contact your elected officials and ask to talk or meet with them. Don’t be shy about sharing your thoughts and ideas. Take them for a tour of your facility. Educate them on how much your firm and your industry contribute economically to your town and state, what the loss will be if you are forced to downsize or close.

If you are a Printing Industries Alliance member, use our upcoming “Voter Voice” Web site tool that will allow you to personalize a pre-written letter on various key bills that impact your firm. It will only take two minutes out of your day—and hopefully result in much-needed ROI.

Want to help ensure that pro-business candidates get elected? Contribute to PrintPac, Printing Industries of America’s political action committee. Some of you may bemoan “special interests,” but in this case, it’s your own.

While federal health care legislation has taken center stage, the Employee Free Choice Act and climate change bills that will impact how your presses run are in line immediately behind it.

At the state levels, New York Gov. Paterson is calling state officials back into a Nov. 10 special session to deal with the budget and a “Do Not Mail” bill that the alliance has been able to keep on a back burner to date may see renewed momentum. Mandated sick leave is being considered by New York City Council.

A greenhouse gas emissions proposal is under consideration in Pennsylvania. Various tax, labor and environmental bills span the New Jersey docket, along with hotly contested internal leadership selections of a new assembly speaker and possibly different (and not business-friendly) Senate president.

None of this is meant to lecture, but rather to strongly encourage personal involvement in the political process. We reap what we sow. Working together, let’s go for a field that offers self-sustaining crops by making our collective voices heard—and heard loudly!

Vicki R. Keenan is vice president of Printing Industries Alliance (PIA), a regional trade association representing the interests of the $20 billion printing and graphic communications industry throughout New York State, northern New Jersey and northwestern Pennsylvania.