Public Works

[SHRED]

I have spent the majority of my working life (39 yrs) in the public (both State and Local government) public works department.

During that time I have worked with very dedicated people who have gone above and beyond, time after time, in service of the public at large.
Of course there is the 2-5% that just show up to collect a paycheck but that is true everywhere in the private sector also and I will add that during emergencies (water main breaks, sewer backups, weather related disasters, etc) even they step up.

Now here is the "kicker"...I cannot for the life of me figure out why any of the guys I work with vote, listen to, or buy into in anyway the Republican Party line.
It is just stunning to me that they would listen to talkshows on the radio that bash their careers (government workers) and meager benefit structure (exaggerated claims regarding defined benefit retirements).
That these workers, who derive their entire livelihood from tax dollars/public fees would denounce Socialism and claim the answer is the mythical "free market" is mind boggling.

Granted, I work in SoCal which is an historically a RED area (that's changing slowly) but as the years go by I still can't get over this stupidity.

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[TBF]

1. The propaganda is deep in this country -

I can remember the old films in the 6th grade of "communist Russia" depicting stores full of empty shelves. That along with "freedom", "family values" and the "American Dream" have done a number on the people of this country.

[tularetom]

2. Fear/hatred/resentment of minorities has a lot to do with it

I'm a retired public works director and at least when I first started, the street and utility maintenance crews were predominantly white. Attempts to bring minorities into the crews were met with resistance if not outright hostility. And as recently as the late 1990's I caught a ration of crap from some of the street workers for hiring a woman as an equipment operator. These guys felt black/hispanic/female workers were a threat to their jobs.

Interestingly enough, the further up the food chain you went the less dislike of minorities you found, but the entry level workers were always a willing audience for republican hate pushers. The bumpers of the employee cars parked at the corporation yard were always decorated with stickers ridiculing Democrats/liberals and praising republicans and rush limbaugh was always blaring from the radio in the shop and break room.

[SHRED]

3. We have a female PW Director

She is awesome and Liberal minded. Best thing that happened to this Department.
When she first was assigned the female hate talk among the male workers was palpable. It was sickening to hear. Now that they know how truly fair she is they have turned around for the most part.

Our female City Manager and Assistant City Manager are a different story. They are Republicans and they are confused. Gender really is not the issue. I will say that the tension between the Director and her right-of-center bosses is not good.

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[Starry Messenger]

4. Keep in mind also that some unions booted out a lot of lefties up until a few decades ago.

The result is that a lot of workers are left with nothing but the ideology of the boss, with nothing to counteract it. We just have to keep plugging away with our co-workers, and educate.

[socialist_n_TN]

5. Yep. Educate and agitate............

Part of the Taft-Hartley Act was, if I recall correctly, forcing the union(s) leadership to disavow any and all Communists. IOW, T-H barred the longest running advocates FOR the working class from advocating for the working class in the unions.

[Starry Messenger]

6. Exactly.

The authors of Taft-Hartley what they were doing. It was brutal. That puts us behind a lot of other labor movements in other countries who don't have that dumb law. I see it as progress that the union leadership have lurched even a little bit towards center-leftism. We've got our work cut out for us.