The greatest republican ever on the WI recall

[stupidicus]

Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.
Abraham Lincoln

As a long time union supporter, the current state of them in this country saddens me, for reasons I need not explain to those of like mind. I am however, greatly encouraged by the battle being waged in WI over it -- win or lose – because it puts it back into the national dialogue where it belongs.

As such, I’ve long thought and argued that the need and desirability for them needs to be reframed, and the current economic chaos and the uncertainty it has introduced into the daily lives of union and non-union workers alike. In what now is clearly an "employers market" with competition for jobs being very high, and with no shortage of replacements, individual job security is more shall we say, "insecure". I would start with the use of the rightwinger “right to work” line of BS, which in a very real way, is what belonging to a union is all about.

Most of the time when the subject is discussed, it is under the frame of the betterment of worker conditions such as pay, benefits, safety, etc, when the reality is it is first and foremost and ending of that evil known as the “at-will” doctrine that basically gives all the cards to the “boss”. While all those things that flow from the ability to bargain collectively are great, imo they take a back seat to the “right to work” period, as in freedom from the whims and retaliations from the boss. Sure, there are laws against various form of discrimination, like those found in the law and protected by the EEOC, and various “public policy exceptions to the at-will doctrine” to be found, e.g. http://in.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.19730501_0030003.IN.htm/qx but none of those will protect you if say, you have a BHO bumper sticker on your car while working for rightwingnut tyrant. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=fired%20for%20a%20kerry%20sticker&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CGYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slate.com%2Farticles%2Fnews_and_politics%2Fchatterbox%2F2004%2F09%2Fbumper_sticker_insubordination.html&ei=GhnOT5npD6a22gXL4YytDA&usg=AFQjCNFhzi51X99SnsGiH82o3uFIAt2qvw

I’ve always thought that unionism ought to be seen as job insurance to secure that “right to work” free and unfettered by the would be tyrants, because only by securing this high ground first can the rest of the bennies be acquired. Furthermore, all workers gladly pay insurance for their health, car, house, etc, yet somehow paying meager union dues to insure that you’re not a victim of the boss and the loss of the job that provides the revenues that pays for all the rest of the insurance they need, is one of the finest but least talked about examples of “voting against one’s self interest”.

And of course, there are societal benefits to be derived from this as well, if you wanna remain focused on the lifting all boats angle as opposed to the aforementioned dedicated self-interest. http://unionreview.com/germany-discovers-boosting-unions-reduces-unemployment The reason why I think the self-interest angle needs to receive more attention it never adequately has, is because people are more responsive to it due to our “what’s in it for me” nature.

After all, isn’t it the individuals “right to work” without having to join an objectionable and wholly unpalatable “socialist/Marxist/etc” org the string the rightwingnuts pluck? I have no real objections to their “right to work laws”, based on the same “freedom to associate” right the existence of unions rests upon, other than the duty of the union to have defend them at their expense as “free-riders’.

Imagine that – rightwingers supporting freeloaders…

In the context of labor unions, a free rider is an employee who pays no union dues or agency shop fees, but nonetheless receives the same benefits of union representation as dues-payers. Under U.S. law, unions owe a duty of fair representation to all workers that they represent, regardless of whether they pay dues. Free riding has been a point of legal and political contention for decades.[1] In Canadian labour law, the Rand formula (also referred to as automatic check-off) is a workplace situation in which the payment of trade union dues is mandatory, regardless of the worker's opinion about the union.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_rider_problem