Union Perspectives

Redding public union workers are under fire and so are other city workers in the state. Costa Mesa just laid off 213 city employees and outsourced 18 city services; among them firefighters. One city worker who received a pink slip jumped to his death from the civic center in Costa Mesa, Friday, March 18, 2011. This is one cost of outsourcing. Some people in Redding now want a charter city, which will give the city a way to get rid of union workers rights and Project Labor Agreements. This will also give the cities the way to stop paying prevailing wages, which was established under the Davis-Bacon Act (both of whom were Republicans). The relentless attacks on workers is not going to stop until we are all aware to what is happening and start fighting back. There are many peaceful ways to do this, such as the way we vote. We only have to look at the history of labor to see how our union forefathers and mothers gained the rights that are now under attack. In Record Searchlight’s Mar...

The worker pays taxes, many corporations don’t. In fact, some corporations benefitted greatly from the $700 billion government bailout, and most haven’t paid the money back nor any taxes. Not only did Bank of America received a $45 billion bailout, not paid one cent back, but its leader came out against organized labor -- the common working person. Yet, many workers still do business with B of A and trust it with their money.  Other giants that do not pay taxes are General Electric, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Boeing, and Exxon-Mobile -- Republicans recently refused to cut the subsidies paid to oil companies, which are seeing a huge profit, once again off the backs of the common worker. With political favoritism like this, we have met the enemy and it is the GOP - and some Democrats.  As individuals there isn’t much we can do to fight against the system, but as a united front we can bring about change. As soon as we heard about what Bank of America was doing against the working c...

Does the person who is president matter when it comes to the detriment of the average worker? Yes, it does matter. The president is the one who selects the candidates for the U.S. Supreme Court; and remember, the Supreme Court giveth and taketh away. Examples of this ‘give and take’ that have hurt the workers include:  The 2000 Supreme Court ruling that gave George W. Bush the presidency over Al Gore The 2010 Supreme Court ruling that gave Citizens United aka corporations the same status as a person and that corporations could give unlimited political campaigns contributions without revealing the source. In 1959, the Supreme Court invoked the Taft-Hartley Act against steel workers.  In 1938, the Supreme Court rules that sit-down strikes are illegal. In 1924, the Supreme Court ruled that child-labor laws were unconstitutional. In 1915, the Supreme Court upholds ‘yellow dog contracts,’ which forbids membership in Labor Unions. In 1905, the Supreme Court held that a maximum hours...

We must support whoever will protect workers, their pensions and health care, which are usually Democrats. If California loses the Democratic majority in its elected politicians, we will be the next Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio or Florida. If we lose more Democrats at the federal government level it will be even worse for the working people. The workers must put their feet on the ground and not be intimidated or embarrassed to fight for thier rights. This is now class warfare. The corporations want a low-wage, uneducated class of workers - the ones we used to call the 'middle class.'  And don't think our government will protect us. There is ample proof in our labor history to show that the government used force against its own people. What happened in Tunsia and Egypt would never have been allowed here. The government and corporations have in the past used our National Guard (remember Kent State), U.S. troops (the 1932 Bonus March) and private mercenaries, such as the Baldwi...