With the Trump election, we here in the U.S. must brace ourselves for privatization of our security and government services. Also, there will be a huge push in union busting activities and we will see more states pushing right-to-work laws, which will smash unions by reducing union dues. We are seeing this in Australia, Britain, Greece, and Israel.
These trends are now driving violations of labor laws, which is responsible for underpaying workers, and now Israel has the highest poverty level among developed nations, and it has the highest level of inequality among children.
Privatization is the fastest path to the bottom of the economic ladder. The model set by President Ronald Reagan and Britain’s Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who both followed the hardline economist and privatization nutcase Milton Friedman, who has been one of the ones who have widened the inequality gap here in the U.S. and the world over.
With the Trump election, we will see privatization and wars on steroids, and the workers better have a plan on how to survive and sticking our heads in the sand will not do it. The next war is now. It is between the Havenots against the Wantitalls, and it will effect all of us, no one will be exempt. The 1 percent will get away with no damage. Hell, we are still trying for a living wage of $15 to $24 an hour minimum wage.
Our healthcare—what little we have—is in jeopardy, and there will be attacks on Social Security to be sure—as Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who grew up on Social Security from his late father, has already said he wants both Social Security and Medicare privatized. One only has to look to the school bus crash in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for how well privatization works.
The school district privatized its school buses with Durham School Services out of Warrenville, Illinois. The company provides contracted school bus services in Texas, California, Oregon, Idaho and Washington with 13,700 vehicles. Durham had been operating with a conditional federal safety rating, issued for past unspecified problems before resolving the problems in August 2015. The company’s recent history shows 346 crashes in more than two years, with three deaths (now nine) and 142 injuries (now more injuries with this recent crash), and 53 unsafe driving violations. What’s more infuriating is that the school administration said there was legally no way to discipline “someone who is not our employee.”
All we need to do is just watch Ukraine, France, Britain, Greece, Spain, and South America to see the impact of immigration, wars and inequality. It is time to pick a side and be smart about it. Look at history, read, talk, listen, and then act for a new deal. Remember, Bernie Sanders is still here and still fighting.
Also, remember that 43 percent of union members voted for Trump—and that is union leadership’s fault.
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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