Union Perspectives

True power is with the states. Most people worry about the federal government taking away their rights, but in reality it is the states taking away our rights. We the 99% should be worrying about the oligarchies buying state governments and convincing people to elect their chosen senate and assembly politicians. With their state puppet government in place, they can do just about anything they want. Take a look at Detroit and other areas in Michigan. They can change the laws regarding abortion, check out the bills dubbed “Fetal Heartbeat,” recently passed in North Dakota; kicked out all unions, Wisconsin is doing this, and making the state a “right to work” state. They are even taking over the educational system, as in Louisiana, a state that can’t afford to be any more ignorant; and even taking over cities, like Benton Harbor, Michigan. State governments control the National Guard and the local law enforcement and fire departments. Their power is unlimited and we, the people, cannot d...

Will the Patriot Act or parts of it be used against labor or most any worker movement, such as the quest for a minimum wage increase, Occupy or the women’s movement? The answer will probably be yes for if you look back at history you will see government used the Alien and Sedition Laws of 1798, which jeopardized the freedom of speech, press and assembly, and was a long step toward Totalitarianism. And then there was U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, appointed by Woodrow Wilson, who recruited J. Edgar Hoover as his special assistant in 1917 to enforce the Espionage Act of 1917, especially the Sedition Act of 1918 engaged in the Palmer Raids. These Acts were used to launch a campaign against the so-called radicals, such as the IWW (Wobblies) labor movement, which was at the time the most feared labor group. The oligarchies wanted them destroyed and they were, to a point. The next Act the government used against its people went after labor, women’s rights and civil rights was ...

Labor needs to vote labor in local, state and U.S. government elections. The GOP elephant was the right pick for its logo for they never forget and will not change even if it means its demise. To think that they are still angry about the New Deal of President Franklin Roosevelt some 75 years ago; this is just stupid. They should rename the party ‘Gone on Past’ stupid party. Eleanor Roosevelt had to fight the ‘right to work for less’ 70 years ago and the stupid party is still waving that right to work for less flag. Eleanor Roosevelt’s argument then was, “I am opposed to right to work legislation because it does nothing for working people but, instead, gives employers the right to exploit labor.” She was right then and what she said 70 years ago is still accurate today. So what I do not understand is why labor is still losing the fight for there are more wage slaves than there are oligarchies. Is it that maybe the wage slaves are just as stupid as the GOP? If so, then the question sho...

The fight to keep the prevailing wage in a little city has been ongoing for three years. The fight is between a supposed nonprofit corporation and the City of Redding against the unions in northern California. The so-called nonprofit, Turtle Bay Museum, wants to build a 5-star Sheraton hotel as a funding source for its enterprises. The case went to the courts and labor won. Now the Turtle Bay wants to go back to court, but this time labor is in for the long hall. This win for labor or loss will affect all of California, and could even set a precedent for the rest of the nation. For this reason alone labor must win, and in this case Turtle Bay needs the hotel more than the labor needs the jobs for labor will not miss out on a thing if this hotel is not build. They have nothing now so if the hotel isn’t built they won’t be out of work, but if the prevailing wage is overturned, unions will lose a lot more than this one job. We can kiss the prevailing wage jobs goodbye, and construction j...