Union Perspectives

The time is now to take advantage of the old adage, “In all adversity there is a window of opportunity” in this case for change. There are a multitude of reasons why people are protesting in the street today, and all have a common adversary corporate greed. The last time corporate America was scared of the workers was when the CIO and AFL were going to band together. These two organizations had been at odds for years basically driven by egos, as the CIO workers were less skilled workers than the AFL workers, who were trades people earning more money,. The corporations took full advantage of the animosity, pitting workers against each other. Corporations did not want the two unions forming one large union. Workers figured they were pawns and decided to combine their efforts under one union baring both names: AFL/CIO with George Meany as the president. He was a plumber by trade. The corporations panicked after this happened and started an anti-union campaign, that continues to this day.