It is time for the labor councils to join the 99ers who are the Wall Street protesters. For we all have the same concerns: shelter, food, health care, pensions and jobs. The 1 ‘percenters’ have crossed the line and not just in the USA.
This is now a worldwide movement. It is reminiscent of Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). We the working people have had opportunities before and did not take advantage of them. This time we, the 99ers, and unions now have no choice but to keep going for the 99ers are at the bottom of the financial ladder. If you are not in the top 1 percent on the economic scale, you’re a 99er.
This is not the first time we've had to deal with corporate greed. Ralph Chaplin captured the 1 percenters' greed at the turn of the 20th century.
“It is we who plowed the prairies, built the cities
where they trade
Dug the mines and built the workshops
endless miles of railroad laid
Now we stand outcast and starving
Midst the wonders we made, but
solidarity will keep us strong”
by Ralph Chaplin 1915
We must stay on the move; be on the offensive as opposed to the passive defensive. Sun Tzu (Art of War) realized that no war can be won by adoption of a static attitude. The strategy and tactics that have been used with success are 4 things:
1). when the enemy advances, we retreat
2). when the enemy halts, we harass
3). when the enemy seeks to avoid battle, we attack
4). when the enemy retreats, we pursue
Sun Tzo, Art of War
Unions’ long game is to get all union contracts to expire on the same day nationwide. The United Auto Workers combines contracts ends on April 28, 2028. This could then result in a mass national strike starting on May Day beeginning that year. This could then put enormous pressure on employers, but also on lawmakers. It’s the muscle and sweat of the workers that keeps this country great, not the individual company or corporations. This May Day strike would be the time to change the workers’ world for the better by negotiating for a 32-hour week with the same pay, and the U.S. adopts a healthcare for all with no out of pocket costs. This would also help the employers as they would no longer have to provide healthcare. By striking, the UAW won same pay for new workers, all UAW contracts will end on the same date, a 25-percent pay increase, a cost of living adjustments, a guaranteed right to strike over potential plant closures, and also the right to vote to unionize through the card che
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