Time to Give Back

Why aren't the army of retired union workers used in the fight to unionize today’s workers? Why aren’t the unions using their retired members? Is it because the union bosses do not know how or is it that they just don’t know how to organize retired workers or get these older union members fired up to join the new workers wanting union protraction? There is a lot of bias out there against retirees or ‘geezers’ as we’re known, but including them in this fight just might benefit all involved because a lot of us have been where today’s workers are now. The unions are wasting of experience and talent by not including us in today’s union resurgence. Retirees could be at every local public government meeting—city councils, board of supervisors, fire boards, school board and many others—and during the public comment section of the speaking about the needs of workers and retirees. During this section of the meetings, speakers are usually given two minutes to speak about anything not on the agenda, imagine the amount of information or education that could take place, touting the benefits of unions and how unions provide for their retirement, and getting out their message every month for free to a captive audience. Most of these meetings are broadcast on public stations, covered by local newspapers and some radio stations as well as those in attendance. The labor council and the AFL/CIO could have the talking points of the month for local or state meetings. It’s not necessarily for the boards to hear or the government employees, most of whom are union already, but the audience. The union reps could hold classes for the speakers and maybe some of our union speakers might want to run for office or support candidates who support unions or help elected officials already in office who support unions. We have the people to take on this project and it needs to be done especially now as our country fights back against corporate fascism. The public needs to know that unions are still relevant and necessary to workers. Ask yourself what kind of soulless ghoul makes obscene amounts of money during a pandemic when their employees are getting sick and some dying while the corporate hoarders count their billions placing unreasonable demands on the humans dependent on their meager paychecks. Mobilizing these supportive army of retirees would cost very little money or time but the potential rewards could be invaluable and give retirees a feeling of giving back to the people who lost their lives walking the picket lines and striking in the past, such as Joe Hill, and many others who went to prison or were killed for their efforts. Today’s retirees attending the meeting could be the modern day Mother Jones, Eugene Debs and Big Bill Hayward, and the public microphones could be today’s soap boxes. So, perhaps all of us retired union people need to get off our collectives arses, put aside the televisions, golf clubs, fishing poles, or park the motorhomes, and give a little payback time to our unions who make it possible to live in relative comfort. If you think this is a waste of time, consider years ago Progressives began advocating for a $15 an hour minimun wage in Califoria. Well, come January 1, $15 an hour for companies with 25 employees or more will be the standard minimum wage in California unlike the other states, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey that are incrementally raising their minimum wage to $15.