The dreams the old International Workers of the World (IWW) could very well come true because of the capitalist attacks against workers worldwide. At this time, the French workers’ unions are under attack by President Macron, who is out to destroy unions.
Then there is the Spanish government’s all out efforts to prevent the referendum on Catalonia’s independence, but 2.3 million people braved law enforcement attacks and voted for independence. The fight was lead by dockworkers, firefighters, public workers and most of all labor groups.
Then we have the Kurds, who are fighting for an independent Kurdistan. The Kurds are 30 million strong and have no country to call home. The Kurdish struggle shows that it is possible to stand up to oppression and win.
Poland has been slipping into an authoritarian rule for the last two years as the country’s government is cracking down and restricting people’s human rights and ignoring the European Union’s insistence that the government refrain from what it is doing to the people of Poland.
This is what the capitalist rulers and Washington, D.C. fear the most that the Kurdish struggle will inspire workers and farmers to fight for their own interests in Puerto Rico and all other colonial rule. But the workers and their unions all over the world, like the UK, Russia, Ukraine, all of South America, and Canada are fighting the capitalist oligarchs, who want to do away with the minimum wage and unions, but with the Internet all workers now can exchange tactics and strategies, and even help with money.
This is something the old IWW could only have dreamt of this in the 1900s. Now is the right time to stand up for a living wage, pensions, free education, and healthcare—and also good unions.
Today, the U.S., especially under the Trump administration, has returned to the Gilded Age, the period between 1870 and 1900, when capitalists’ greed, rampant corruption, conspicuous consumption by the wealthy and illegal corporate dealings ruled the country. Mark Twain coined the term, “Gilded Age” to reflect that on the surface everything looked glittery and prosperous, but underneath the surface, corruption, scandal and greed was hurting people, if not killing them. Sound familiar?
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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