Unions: Speaking Out for ALL Workers

[OrwellwasRight]

We are all the working class. Forget that, and you are shrinking our coalition and doing the dirty work of the 1% for them.


Big picture trade unionism

** ** **

"The big corporations have used the economic crisis to go on the offensive, attacking union wages, working conditions and labor rights. In particular the
corporations and the right wing have targeted union retirement and pension plans along with collective bargaining rights. In addition the overall global economic crisis has meant a global attack on labor throughout the world led by the giant transnational corporations and finance capital.

"In the last few years the attack on labor in the US has become increasingly political. There is no doubt that since the elections of Pres. Obama, right-wing Republicans and their corporate sponsors have increasingly turned their sights on public worker unions. Not only because of the higher union density in that sector, but also to cripple rising union political action. They have always understood that the private sector industrial unions have been the base that makes public worker unions possible. The incredible low unions density in the private sector allows them to turn full force on the public and service worker unions.

** ** **

"Increasingly, in rebuilding the labor movement, the unions fight for the common good, for the whole of the working class, every bit as hard as they fight for their own interests. This is illustrated in the priorities set by the national AFL-CIO for this year's work. Two of their top legislative goals include immigration reform with a path to citizenship rights and protection and expansion of voting rights.

"Further the AFL-CIO is making tremendous efforts to build broad united coalitions with all kinds of working class organizations. They are hosting numerous meetings and conferences with all kinds of allied working class organizations, like those fighting for immigrant rights, civil rights, economic and social justice and more. They are very serious about not just consulting but also giving allies, including non-union workers, a voice in developing the future of the labor movement. They fully expect to have more delegates to their coming national convention from allied organizations, than from AFL-CIO affiliates."

More here: http://www.politicalaffairs.net/big-picture-trade-unionism/

[Starry Messenger]

1. k&r

[Ohio Joe]

2. It is really fucked up...

I understand why corporations want workers to believe they make too much but... WTF? What kind of moron gets convinced they should fight for someone else to make more then them off off their own work? Who is really that stupid? I know... There are a crap load of them that vote republican... I just don't see how they find their way out of bed in the morning.

[OrwellwasRight]

3. Sadly, not only do they find their way out of bed, they

vote for dumb ass "right to work" laws and to hurt public servants as if it is the public servants were the CEOs stealing the wealth.

Here is the chart of the worker share of national income in this country. It's clearly not "workers stealing from other workers":

[Starry Messenger]

5. I can't find the exact link to an article I was reading this week.

It's called "Labor union decline, not computerization, main cause of rising corporate profits" and here's a link to it, but that's not the link I read it at. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/asa-lud052813.php#

It's a good article, lays out the case that wealth is going disproportionately to corporations and not to wages, and it's not because of automation.

However, in the comments there were idiots cheering on the decline of labor unions and the rise of corporate profits. On what basis, I can't even imagine. I lost of crumb of faith in humanity that day.

[Ohio Joe]

7. I'm a long time IT worker, I know this to be true

It is all about bigger and better profits for the few at the top. Nothing more and nothing less. On top of that, they have convinced a lot of people they have to be protected and supported because 'one day, you might be at the top'... pfffft, hehehehehe. People are stupid.

[OrwellwasRight]

13. But US IT workers don't have the skills!

We have to bring in underpaid immigrants!

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

And keep them beholden to the company that sponsored their visa so that they cannot exercise workplace rights without fear of deportation. It's working so far to keep wages suppressed in an area where we supposedly have a worker shortage. Ha!

[OrwellwasRight]

12. Thanks for sharing!

Great article and hopefully another chink in the argument that this is all about technology -- rather than bargaining power. If it were about technology, then places like China, manufacturing powerhouses, would also be losing manufacturing jobs to technology. They're not. They are gaining them. It is about international arbitrage -- corporations gaming the system to reduce worker bargaining power everywhere -- from the US to Bangladesh.

[Starry Messenger]

14. +1

[Teamster Jeff]

4. K&R

[Omaha Steve]

6. Excellent post

Not just underpaid. Under benefits too!

K&R!

[michigandem58]

8. "private sector industrial unions have been the base that makes public worker unions possible"

Not sure I agree. Public unions have held up pretty well while private unions were being decimated.

[OrwellwasRight]

10. This is the point.

The support for public sector unions has largely decreased (votes taking away their pensions, taking away their right to unionize at all, demonizing them as the cause of our government's troubles, and on and on). The fight in Wisconsin was about public sector unions.

I agree with the author that public sector unions were not targets until fairly recently, and that it is largely the result of the continuing decline in private sector unions. So many fewer private sector workers have the experience of being defended by unions that they have taken the choice to try to take away what others have instead of saying "why don't I have that too?"

The public sector unions are under attack and those attacks will likely not stop until unions start rising in the private sector again. I can see the link. The point is that it is cause and effect so you should expect to see a lag time between the cause (private sector union decline) and the effect (attacks on public sector unions).

See more on the attacks on public sector unions here:
http://www.pdfdownload.org/pdf2html/pdf2html.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.scholarsstrategynetwork.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fssn_key_findings_ahlquist_on_public_sector_unions.pdf&images=yes
http://www.nlgmass.org/2011/04/attacks-on-public-sector-unions-the-latest-chapter-in-union-busting/
http://www.azaflcio.org/index.cfm?action=article&articleID=119118e9-00a9-4f97-abc9-bcef747385b1
http://worklaw.jotwell.com/public-sector-unions-public-employees-may-you-live-in-interesting-times/

[michigandem58]

15. My point was public unions seem to have

held up relatively well.

It is true that you aren't going to see many people taking to the streets to defend benefits they don't have themselves. And it may not be realistic to expect them to. They need to see a direct link to themselves and the issue at hand, and they don't. We see public sector retirees in their early fifties - is it realistic to think we can ever see a society that can support such a thing for everyone?

The movement needs to be for single payer health care and a national retirement system, incorporating all employees, that provides adequate income to all in their retirement years. Now that would get a groundswell of public support. But the notion of fighting for someone else's benefits, hoping for a trickle down affect, just isn't going to motivate many people.

And on edit, not sure if you realize it or not, but the way your meme is worded is somewhat insulting. Starting out with "Did it ever occur to you..." feels like "Hey dumbass....". How about "Union workers want you to have the same wages and benefits they enjoy, because you deserve them" or something to that effect.

[OrwellwasRight]

19. I would argue that you are misinformed.

Last edited Mon Jun 10, 2013, 06:53 PM - Edit history (1)

1) Public unions may have "held up pretty well" until about 2007, but are now a huge target. They would not be a target if the union movement were stronger in the private sector. It was a very minor point in what was a very long article, and yet it is what you chose to focus on. I wonder why. Also, with the added support of the several additional links I provided, the point seems pretty well proved. Your only response is "public unions seem to have held up pretty well." You provide no links. You don't deal at all with the facts of the recent attacks on public unions in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Chicago, much less the national movement to fire public servants and take away their pensions. I think that's all pretty well proved if you do a google search, and if you disagree and have have a theory about this that has more support than the articles I have cited, please cite to some evidence.

2) Why wouldn't people defend benefits they don't have themselves? That's how every civil rights fight has been won in history == people who did not have the right to vote marched for the right to vote. People who did not have the right to abortions marched for the right to have abortions. I don't really see your point. At all.

3) "Public sector retirees" do not retire in their early fifties. There are some who retire early -- those in highly physical jobs, such as cops and firefighters. The rest do not. Do not use over generalizations. My mom was a probation officer. She worked till she was 69. Many teachers and professionals work well into their 70s. Many public servants do not even get Social Security, so many of them work even longer than 65 to make sure they can save enough for retirement. Others have had their pensions negated in the war on workers, and they will have to keep working as well because the pensions they paid into and counted on all these years have been reduced or nullified.

The reason that police and firefighters get different packages is because it is a physical job. Do you really want 60 year olds trying to run down 19 year old thieves? Trying to find fire victims and carry them down multiple flights of stairs? I don't. You should watch your use of over generalizations.

Of course it is realistic to think that we can have a society with a fair and secure retirement for everyone. What do you think unions are fighting for? What do you think solidarity means?

4) If you think unions are fighting for trickle down economics, you need to educate yourself. It's not only 100% wrong, it is rude and insulting of you to say that. Who do you think led the fight for single payer during the health care debate? Unions. Who do you think is fighting against Obama's proposals to cut Social Security? Unions.

http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Economy/We-All-Do-Better-When-We-All-Do-Better
http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Political-Action-Legislation/Everyone-Deserves-to-Retire-in-Dignity-Let-s-Strengthen-Social-Security-and-Medicare
http://www.aflcio.org/Issues/Retirement-Security
http://www.aflcio.org/Issues/Health-Care/Next-Steps-for-Health-Care-Reform
http://www.aflcio.org/Issues/Health-Care

5) Thanks for your tip. However, I didn't "word my meme" in any way. I found it and pasted it here. And by the tone and content of your responses, it sounds like it is a message you need. Get over yourself with your accusation that unions are for "trickle down" effect. That's Republican talking points pure and simple. And bears no relation to reality. Get educated, or you risk becoming the person who says, "when they came for the union members, I didn't speak up because I wasn't a union member . . . when they came for me there was no one to speak up."

I know this post sounds pretty harsh. And that's because I get riled up when people throw out unfounded accusations at unions without even backing up those accusations with any evidence. If your complaint about unions is that they should be working for better pay, healthcare, and retirement for everyone -- that is not a legitimate complaint. That is what unions--do every single day of thier existence. You need to learn more about what they are and what they do before you criticize. Name me any organization in DC that is also fighting for fair tax policy, fair trade/globalization policy, fair Social Security and retirement policy, fair education policy, fair healthcare policy, infrastructure investment, voting rights, immigration reform -- all from a working person's point of view. Name even one. The AFL-CIO is the only organization out there working for comprehensive policies to help working people. If the AFL-CIO dies, who will be presenting those views to Congress and the President?

[michigandem58]

22. Public unions have held up relatively well

1) That was meant in contrast to private sector unions. All unions and working people in general have been under attack, but the public sector has held up better because generally government entities don't declare bankruptcy, eradicate the union, or move out of state to a non-union environment.

2) It's a tough sell to get people to fight for *others* to get benefits they don't have themselves. That's what I was saying. It's going to be tough to get people up in arms over modifications to teacher pensions, for example, when they don't have one themselves.

3) Yes, public sector employees are often eligible to retire in the fifties and do. Living in Michigan, that's something I see from personal acquaintance. And being frank, we have plenty of cops on duty, younger and older, who most certainly couldn't run down a 19 year old anyway. I'd also note factory jobs can be very physically demanding. It's curious that you were so quick to present public sector jobs as "physically demanding", a clear implication private sector jobs aren't. I assume you're a public sector employee.

4) It's true that unions support things like minimum wage and social security and that's great. But again, it's a tough sell to tell folks if they fight hard for benefits for public sector unions (which they don't have themselves) it will somehow trickle down and they'll get the same.

5) I realized it wasn't your meme, but you're posting it. It represents a confrontational and somewhat insulting attitude toward non-union employees. It only serves to feed the repug accusation that unions are elitists. For the record, I'm a white collar employee who does better than union members. Still, I support unions, and realize their importance in history as well as today.

[OrwellwasRight]

23. I'm not a public sector employee.

You assume wrongly. You say you support unions, but you sure don't sound like it. All you are doing is attacking public sector workers and saying why others should not support their struggles. We all support each other's struggles--that's what solidarity is. We support unions where ever they are. We all need to be asking "why don't I have better pay and benefits?" not "how can I take way from somebody else what I don't have?"

I repeat, YOUR meme is 100% Republican, corporate fodder. Get workers to fight each other and we won't fight the real power, the 1%.

I will also repeat: you found one point that you didn't like in that whole (very long) article (which was not at all focused on public sector unions by the way--it was focused on unionism) and you picked on it and continue to do so -- without links and without evidence. I'm tired of the bone you have to pick.

Bye!

[HiPointDem]

9. kr

[socialist_n_TN]

11. Kick.....

Got to do something. The bureaucrats and the "business union" model ain't working anymore.

[byeya]

16. The Chicago Teachers Union strike and subsequent victory proved what you are saying. Yes, there's

an ongoing war against organized labor but the top-down management of trade and industrial unions has not, and I believe, cannot, meet the challenge.
We need to move to social unionism where the unions involve the entire rank and file and solicit support from community groups and individuals. The message must be, If we win, you win, and if you win back up the promise.

[socialist_n_TN]

17. Yep agreed. "If we win, you win, and if you win back up the promise."...

The union that wins MUST REPAY THE FAVOR OF SUPPORT! That would lead to solidarity across craft and industry lines and tie the unions more solidly to the communities and other workers that supported them. IOW, it would raise class consciousness to the point where, eventually, workers become not only a class OF itself, but becomes a class FOR itself.

The WORST thing that workers and unions can do is to buy into the fiction that the owners have your best interests at heart. They don't. They don't even have your neutral interests at heart. THEY ONLY HAVE THEIR OWN SELF INTEREST AT HEART! It's as simple as that. That's why a political grouping that claims to represent the workers AND the bosses is doomed to failure.

[byeya]

18. What you say is part of the downfall of the UAW. They went for the "partnership" and ended up with a

two tier wage system undermining solidarity within the union. The UAW also has not put enough staff and funding into organizing foreign car manufacturing in the USA even though many are majority African American staffed and the AAs are very staunchly pro-union and pro-social union.
I support the CIO vision of unionism but unfortunately the AFL view has been predominant especially starting with Meany.
The union has to involve the community and has to evolve into a one-stop destination for all manner of community support and solidarity.
As to your last paragraph, workers have been duped into "priviledge extended" as offering rights and then to find out, to their woe, that it's a temporary pitstop on the road to capitalist domination.

[OrwellwasRight]

21. If you read the article at the link, you'll see

that the AFL-CIO does recognize that it's current strategy isn't working. They are trying to
involve the community" in their improvement and redesign effort. You can join and put in your thoughts and suggestions here: http://www.aflcio.org/About/Exec-Council/Conventions/2013

Please speak up and say your piece!!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

20. K & R