Are we, wage slaves, and retired former wage slaves ready for a general strike? If we are ready I think top of the list on the strike banner should be a minimum wage hike to at least $15 an hour then leave Social Security alone and next strong labor laws to protect wages and the right to have a union. Also to do away with the right to work state laws, which if you belong to a union and receive benefits then you should pay your share—no free rides. You know the GOP way: nothing free.
If we get the minimum wage raised we will have a lot of people thankful and see just what the power of union people can do. If the lower wage workers have $5 per hour more to spend it will be better for every worker and they can purchase better transportation to get to work and will spend more; and, in turn, help the consumer economy, which is what we have.
The more we buy the more someone has to make or supply, and around it goes; but with no spending power it just doesn’t work. The corporations go to undeveloped countries and try to get them to buy our products, which takes years and moves jobs overseas. When the corporations could do the same things right here just by paying more in minimum wage. The U.S. has a third world economy right now that can be tapped as customers, but in order for this to happen the wage slaves must do something over the top, something never done before like a countrywide general strike like the LongShoremen did in Washington state, but only on an even larger scale.
If we start talking about it now and pick the right time we would get the attention of the masses. This would be a real 99% event, and in the long run even some of the 1% would benefit whether they would want it or not. We need to do this before the next election.
Yes, they are coming for us. Workers need to have one another’s backs because no one else will. Neither the broader labor movement nor the Democratic party are prepared to meet the urgency of this moment. So it’s going to fall upon the rest of us to mount a real resistance against Trump’s authoritarian takeover. We’re going to have to get our hands dirty. I don’t care if you have a good, well-paying union job and you are in the middle class now—if you see a worker being dragged out of his workplace regardless of how skilled the job and potentially taken to another country, you should be ready to be there for that worker. When I.C.E. shows up, gather around and shame them into leaving. It has worked in other places. America is sleep walking into authoritarianism, and if there’s anyone out there who is a member of a labor union that is safe—at this point— and doesn’t think this applies to them. Understand that they just haven’t gotten to you yet. They’re coming for all of us. There are ...
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