Union Perspectives

One of the best playbook to destroy a democracy was written in a new biography of Adolf Hitler by Richard J. Evans. This is the playbook that is close to what our new president is using. With only some name recognition and no political experience, Donald Trump, like Hitler, found the underbelly of disenfranchised people and the electoral college and got himself elected to office with speeches full of allegations and vile stereotypes; and they were precisely designed to gain maximum attention from the media and the reaction from the crowds who gathered to hear his rhetoric. Also, in Trump’s speeches, he flaunted vulgarities and exploited tribal hatreds, and he lied and lied his way to success. But his similarities with Hitler does not end there. Just like Hitler ensured he stayed in power, Trump ensured the Armed Forces were on his side by giving them massive increases in funding, he’s reduced the checks and balances, and provided a huge armaments program, which is supposed to make Am...

Is joblessness going to be the new normal for most workers? Or will “gig job” (job of a short duration) and temporary jobs be the new order with low pay and no pensions or healthcare. This is what the capitalist rulers are telling the working people, and that they will just have to live with it. The capitalists are now attacking the pensions that workers have already earned. With a Congressional law passed in December of 2014, The Pension Reform Act, which gives permission to slash retirees payments and will effect 68 separate private sector union pension funds. This could impact about 1 million pensions, which not only effects the retirees, but their families, as well, amounting to 2 million to 3 million people or more. A person receiving a government pension of $3,500, could see a cut of $1,900 per month. Then the Government Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which is supposed to pick up the shortfall, is projected to run out of money in eight to ten years. There will be no m...

The plight of workers the world over is getting worse each passing day with the corporations and governments fighting against unions and worker rights. The jobs have gone to countries where the workers can be easily exploited or to U.S. southern non-union or Right to Work states, where if there are unions the employees have the options to pay dues or not, which further kills off unions. To add injury to this bleakness, the Iowa legislation passed a bill, signed by its governor, Terry Branstad, to reverse the minimum wage law, which in effect will steal the raises of the lowest paid workers. The minimum wage will revert from $10.10 and $8.25 back to $7.25. The republicans say it’s just teenagers or entry level people working for minimum wage. They lie, 84 percent of the workers are 20 years of age or older; 31 percent are parents; and at least a third are 40 years or older. Then there is automation. Robots and driverless cars and trucks, which will conceivably put up to 3.5 million ...

Where is the AFL-CIO on things like $15 to $24 an hour minimum wage or on the universal basic income (UBI). Also, the idea that the French has on a universal robot tax to support the UBI. A robot tax because the more technology advances, the more machines take over our jobs. Then, there is the attack on the U.S. prevailing wage, the Davis-Bacon Act, which Republicans have attack and now want to end prevailing wage protections. This is not only a union matter, but a nonunion issue for all workers who now earn a living wage when working on government jobs. It is time unions and nonunion workers get together and hit the streets, and if we don’t the workers will be working for less than minimum wage and no union healthcare or pensions. The union busting GOP are turning the working class against itself, black against white, men against women, Jews against nonJews. Using hate, division, white supremacy, misogyny, religion and racism are the choice weapons in every union busting fight in...

The billionaires of Silicon Valley and government people are scared and building bunkers and islands in anticipation of society’s collapse. The danger of government people and the very rich having these new 500,000 to 1.5 million bunkers is that they now think they will be safe if and when the big boom drops or the 99 percent comes after them with pitch forks. They may think nuclear war or severe climate change will not effect them and that in the event either of these should occur, they will be better off than the rest of us. These are not just a couple of fringe groups. There is real money behind this movement, hundreds of millions of dollars. These are the richest and smartest people who are probably in the “know” so what do they know that we, poor people, don’t know? Then there are all the so-called rich preppers are buying islands and land in New Zealand. If all government and the 1 percent rich are safe, then do you think they fear earth’s ruin by climate change or a nuclear...

The last bastion of organize labor is now on the west and east coasts, like New York City, Seattle, and Los Angeles. Labor has mostly given up on the south and the middle of the U.S., is that because unions aren’t up to the fight? We have lost Detroit, Michigan and Wisconsin, which was the start of public unions. These GOP government control states, like govenors Synder and Pence have kicked our union butts. In California, labor has lost all of the rural counties, Orange and San Diego counties; and now San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles counties are our last strong holds. It would not take a lot to lose California. California has elected GOP governors before and with our new federal government now in place and with the Koch brothers, et al, and their money it could be done again. We, union workers, could lose it all. They have started on teachers’ union and they are still trying to break the postal workers union by forcing the pension funds to be funded 75 years ahead of pay...

The workers are losing while our labor leaders sleep or hide out, hoping they can hold onto their position until they retire. Our labor leaders appeared to have given up the rural areas and pulled their efforts into the big cities. This is like having a fort with a moat around it and think they are safe. We all know forts can be conquered in the long run. It’s as if labor leaders learned nothing from the Clinton era. We, at this time, are losing with the Right to Work laws being passed in 27 states, and now there is legislation in Congress for a national Right to Work law. Couple this with legislation in Congress to ban the Davis-Bacon Act on prevailing wage law, and the attacks on union pensions. These things will drive the nail into the heart of unions. This is happening in other countries, like the UK and France, who are electing leaders, such as Marine Le Pen, a far right leader. We, here, in the U.S., cannot just depend on the Bernie Sanders-types. We need new, strong unions wi...