Union Perspectives

With a new government in town, now is the time for big changes, which will get people thinking about good things instead of trying to destroy our democracy. Healthcare or Medicare should be for all, climate change has to be addressed and minimum wage of at least $24 to keep up with inflation or implementation of a universal basic income of $2,000 to supplement people’s incomes and stimulate the economy. This needs to be done now for by 2040 or sooner the 2.7 million truck drivers will be replaced by driverless trucks, and it will be up to the civilians to stay out of the way of these driverless vehicles, according to a recent NPR story. Vending machines are already taking the place of some stops and self-check-out lanes are taking the place of cashiers. Two million jobs were lost in human resources, finance and information technology and new research software means a single lawyer can now do the work of five hundred lawyers. There are fewer secretaries, file clerks, telephone operator...

This Labor Day, Sept. 7, 2015, labor is coming back in many ways and it is scaring the anti-union people who then start anti-union rhetoric saying things like labor unions are dying, but this is not true. In fact, my Waste Management company in Shasta County just joined a union. The home healthcare workers are making head way on overtime and wages. The $15 to $18 an hour minimum wage fights are making headway every day in city after city across the nation. We now have President Obama signing executive orders for government contract workers to get paid sick leave that includes family. Then there’s the fight to pay interns who are currently not being paid for the work they do, which makes them company slaves. Interns are beginning to understand that they are being taken advantage of by companies making money off the backs of unpaid workers. Then there is the fight for benefits and full-time work for adjunct professors at colleges who are again being taken advantage of; but the fight for ...