Skip to main content

How to Lose

If we depend on courts and lawyers we will lose the battle on union rights. Wisconsin Supreme Court recently handed Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker a sledgehammer to further destroy union rights.

I was told a long time ago by a union organizer that when we left the streets and picket lines and turned over our fight to the lawyers and court system is when we started to losing the battle against the GOP. Long strikes won’t work nowadays for most working families because they do not have the resources to withstand a long battle and the unions don’t have the resources to back our people. What will work is timing our moves like hit and run, old gorilla tactics. One or two days at a time pick targets where we can get the most support, most media and be able to drive our point home on what we want.

Timing, planning, good communication and being well-organized is done through people all supporting each other. Even if it does not at the time affect you, but if we work together, we will build relations with all the unions - AFL-CIO. We must be smarter, tougher, quicker, have good intel and remember, as Woody Hays once said, ‘Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.’

As said in the Art of War, "Good planning is that by harm is avoided and advantage gained." If we do this well, we should not need lawyers except to get out of jail. War is war and all is fair, we should use trickery, deception and ambushes to seize opportunities. Remember the best defense is a good offense.

Art of War also states, "If one [woman] studies our war he [she] can successfully instruct ten, if ten study they can successfully instruct one hundred, if one hundred can successfully instruct one thousand, and one thousand can successfully instruct ten thousand, and ten thousand can successfully instruct the entire army" of working families. We need to communicate with our friends and families.

Is Target running scared? It was reported yesterday that Target is showing its employees in New York antiunion videos and using duress to influence its employees against unions. This could be the start we’re waiting for! If we had Employee Free Choice Act in place it would end the harassment and video screenings of antiunion rhetoric. As I’ve said before they shipped the jobs overseas, but they have to bring the product back. If we sell their products we should be paid a living wage in order to afford their products. In Henry Ford’s first union contract he was asked why he was going to pay his employees the highest wages in the auto industry at the time, his answer was, ‘I want them to be able to afford to buy my cars.’

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Union or Project 2025

We have an election in two months, where the hell are the building Trade Unions? Members and organizers should be touting their wages, benefits and seeking out new members and union shops. So far, I’m only hearing crickets. While the Trade Unions sit back, the UAW have been striking and winning big benefits for their members. Then there is the Teamsters, who have taken on the Holy Grail—Amazon, the corporation. Again, just crickets from the Trade Unions. Then there is the Minnesota State model—-we can win more together than we can on our own. So why are all unions not working together? Why are all unions not talking with each other? There are two months left until the election—an election that could conceivably be the death null of unions. If we lose this election to the GOP, Trump and Project 2025, our unions will be destroyed and we’ll be back to the days of trying to make ends meet as the GOP will cut our wages, benefits will be eliminated and there will be nothing we can do abou...

David vs Goliath

Labor’s war is a David vs Goliath fight, but sometimes Goliath wins the battle but ultimately David will win the war, and here is one way it can be done in rural areas. Small towns that sit 40 to 50 miles away from larger cities have power for the low-wage workers have power for the low wage workers have nothing to lose for they have nothing, so they can and should use that nothing, which is a power, for better working conditions, such as good wages, regular working hours, healthcare—maybe even childcare. Employees can withhold their labor or just move. Businesses don’t have that option. So, labor in small towns should stand together for a good minimum wage and benefits. Wages should be $26 per hour. Given the income corporations are raking in today, they can well afford to pay their employees better. Healthcare workers, food workers, house keeping and any worker in town can join the town union (as the UAW has shown) and the unions could be the ones to join: fire, police and country ...

Set Aside Grievances and Vote Blue

International Brotherhood of Teamsters are following the United Auto Workers in making history with the groundbreaking joint employer decision against Amazon. Now, the Longshoremen have gotten a groundbreaking contract, as well. This is very telling on what labor can do if they all pull together. These are some of the best deals in the last 30 years. However, all can be lost in the next election if our members vote for the wrong candidate. It is not hyperbole, but history, to say Republicans hate unions. This election, all must set aside some of the “piss me off” things and vote for the people who will stand up for unions and the working people, union or nonunion. The richest 1 percent have half of the worlds wealth while the rest of us only have 0.75 percent. Since 2020, this 1 percent have taken 63 percent of all the wealth. In the U.S., 800 billionaires have more than half of the nation’s wealth while the bottom half of our families have 2.5 percent. Do you think these rich peop...