Why do corporations fear a class warfare? Is it because there are more of us than there are of them? Is it because if we put our hands in our pockets all work stops?
I think the greedy anti-union people have awaken a sleeping giant and the unions are responding by organizing strikes for better contracts for union like the United Auto Workers (UAW), UPS, Association of Flight Attendants, Teamsters.
The working class people have focused on the power that we have when we stand together, and the power that we have when we withhold our labor, nothing is going to move.
UAW union labor leader Shawn Fain has restored the unions’ fighting force and called out corporations power in unapologetic terms. Fain wore an “Eat the Rich” T-shirt and announced that “billionaires, in my opinion, don’t have a right to exist.”
Yes, it is war and the unions are going to align union contracts across the industries to make way for bigger, bolder strikes.
Now is our time when we have the support of our U.S. president. President Biden recently donned a UAW ball cap and walked a picket line. With his support we can only get stronger and earn better wages.
If the Trump people regain control we will need all the power to just stay in existence. If you think this is hyperbole, research the Molly Maguires of 1874, 20 hanged; the 1877 Great Railroad Strike, 10 killed; the 1886 fight for the eight-hour work day, 4 killed plus 7 police officers; 1892 Homestead Steel Works, many seriously injured; 1897 Lattimer, Massacre, 19 killed; 1898 Battle of Virden, numerous killed; 1900 Street Railway Employees of America, 14 killed; 1912 Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike, more than 50 killed; 1914 Ludlow Massacre, 20 killed, including 11 children and 2 women; 1920 Matewan Massacre, 2 miners killed, plus 8 nonunion; 1921 West Virginia U.S. Army troops deploy to quelch striking workers, “The number of lives lost is unknown, but is estimated to be at least 16.”; 1937 Memorial Day Massacre, 10 workers killed; 1974 Duke Power Co in Kentucky, 1 killed. There’s a long history of workers and unions striking, this is just a list of those who were willing to forfeit their lives for better working conditions and pay.
At this time unions are looking a lot better than in the past so unions and its members must vote smart and keep organizing for new members.
There are three phases of a general strike and unions must plan for one. Those three phases are: 1. general strike in an industry 2. general strike in a community 3. general national strike We need to move away from being on the defensive and move toward a good offensive. The American Federal of Labor (AFL) could not have held a general strike if it wanted to because they had thousands of different contracts that expired at different times of the year. This was done deliberately so that there is no consolidation of power for a general strike. Also, nowadays, there is no law agency that will support labor, except the National Labor Relations Board (NLBR), which has been under attack and in decline for years. This leaves the burden of change up to unions, and unless unions work together, little will change. We essentially have a combination of job trusts, which are not as strong as contracts, and the courts can break easily because the NLBR will be further weakened and essentially elim...
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