The workers are losing while our labor leaders sleep or hide out, hoping they can hold onto their position until they retire. Our labor leaders appeared to have given up the rural areas and pulled their efforts into the big cities. This is like having a fort with a moat around it and think they are safe. We all know forts can be conquered in the long run. It’s as if labor leaders learned nothing from the Clinton era.
We, at this time, are losing with the Right to Work laws being passed in 27 states, and now there is legislation in Congress for a national Right to Work law. Couple this with legislation in Congress to ban the Davis-Bacon Act on prevailing wage law, and the attacks on union pensions. These things will drive the nail into the heart of unions. This is happening in other countries, like the UK and France, who are electing leaders, such as Marine Le Pen, a far right leader.
We, here, in the U.S., cannot just depend on the Bernie Sanders-types. We need new, strong unions with good, strong leaders, willing to fight for their members regardless of where they live. If the people in place don’t want to rock the boat, then do like Lee Iacocca once used Laurence J. Peter’s quote, “Lead, follow or get out of the way.”
To our union rank and file members, you cannot wait for someone else to do the work for you. Who do you think will have your best interests and will fight for you or ensure that you keep the eight-hour work day, healthcare, pensions, job safety, and good wages? Now don’t look behind you for there is no one there except, maybe another union member.
The attacks on workers are here, and now being embolden with the election of Donald Trump and in countries like Ukraine, France, UK, Portugal,Italy, Greece, and South America are watching what happens here. So, workers get ready for the streets. This is where our fight will be won and where the new leaders will come from. It will be from the bottom up, not the top down.
Fight for a living wage of $15-$24 an hour, and the right for a union.
Yes, they are coming for us. Workers need to have one another’s backs because no one else will. Neither the broader labor movement nor the Democratic party are prepared to meet the urgency of this moment. So it’s going to fall upon the rest of us to mount a real resistance against Trump’s authoritarian takeover. We’re going to have to get our hands dirty. I don’t care if you have a good, well-paying union job and you are in the middle class now—if you see a worker being dragged out of his workplace regardless of how skilled the job and potentially taken to another country, you should be ready to be there for that worker. When I.C.E. shows up, gather around and shame them into leaving. It has worked in other places. America is sleep walking into authoritarianism, and if there’s anyone out there who is a member of a labor union that is safe—at this point— and doesn’t think this applies to them. Understand that they just haven’t gotten to you yet. They’re coming for all of us. There are ...
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