Labor councils, which is already well established, can be used to counter the GOP and anti-union corporations think tanks and other anti-worker organizations, such American Legislative Exchange Council, State Policy Network (SPN), Americans for Prosperity (their prosperity, not yours, and funded by the Koch brothers), MacIver Institutes and many others. They all are well-funded, but labor has its councils, which are well established, but we just need to expand and update our effort to counter our enemies.
One thing that the GOP think tanks are doing is hiring media reporters and setting up a syndication service providing right-leaning wire service, which tends to sway public opinion. We, the labor councils, could very easily do this with very little expense. Every labor council should have their own think tank. In these think tanks there should be politicians, labor, business, academia and work on the messages for the media. It is the only way to tell our story and get support.
I have written about this before when the labor councils had a program called Labor Cities, which was a program to educate cities on unions and to support cases for the betterment of workers, homeless and retired people. The program is still out there. It just needs a little adjustment to fit the times, which would put labor ahead. Maybe we could catch up to the GOP think tanks.
If we use labor’s city programs and hire media people, we would have a chance to hold on to what we have and start an offense of our own and win the support of working slaves and local government. We know the best defense is a good offense and also we labor people know California has a big target on its back, like New York, Wisconsin and Michigan. The fight for labor is ours to win or ours to lose. It is our choice, but time is running out.
The GOP is taking over the federal government by coming through the backdoor. First they buy a state governor, then they buy the state legislature and senate This way they control the state and they are guaranteed that Congressional districts are drawn I such a way that the GOP will always win, which then they will control the U.S Congress, as they do now, and the Senate. The states are falling very fast so we labor people must explain to the 99% what is happening and how it is happening. To win a battle, you must know your enemy (Art of War).
The GOP looks at unions as a large and slow boat and the GOP think tanks as fast maneuvering vessels, like PT Boats. They took this from one of Malcolm Gladwell’s book, in which one chapter was names: “How David Beats Goliath,” but I think we could counter this with our version of Labor City PT Boats. The brains behind the GOP strategy are Jim Demint and Tracie Sharp, who is president of SPN.
I hope that I am wrong, but what I see at this time is our unions are going to be in the fight of their existence. This is the most perilous time of our life. The life we had is threatened like never before. Unions are the largest organized group of people who can save our country if things keep going the way they are heading at this time. We need to all stand together for power, but we each must prepare and plan to take care of ourselves and our families. We can fight the big fight and not be distracted by worry about things that can and should already be taken care of. For instance, stashing at least one month’s pay and at least a month or even a year’s worth of food, whether the food is staples (pasta, rice, canned goods) and meat or chicken in the freezer. Keep your vehicles' tanks full and if possible a gas can full. It’s in your best interest to also save money for house or rent payments plus extra. This is not new thinking for us old trade workers who had to prepare when...
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