One key factor in a labor resurgence could well be the fight for $15 if there is good movement on this. It could excite the wage slaves and restore faith in the power of the masses, which has always been there, but just repressed by anti-labor GOP people of the 1 percent who have vilified the wage slaves and makes the unions look like losers. We need a win for $15 in ’15 and the April 15 Fight for $15 rally and unions and labor councils should be helping with this fight.
And I, a retired sheet metal organizer, have not heard one word from the sheet metal union and at my last labor council meeting (AFL/CIO) not one word. So, is there a reason workers won’t unite? Labor is now at a 6.6 percent in the private sector.
This is about the same level as when the Ludlow Massacre occurred in 1914 in which several miners and a 12-year-old were shot to death by the National Guardsmen. Then when the canvas tents that they were living in caught fire and 11 children and two women were killed. This is what it took to bring labor together.
It’s been a hundred years and here we are once again starting at the bottom, 6.6 percent, will it take another Ludlow to bring together our workers? Will the wage slaves go to the streets and demand their civil rights—to have the right to build a union, a living wage and have free education, healthcare, safe work environment, pensions and be paid for their commons. In order to do this, workers must become educated and understand that this labor fight is worldwide in places like Ukraine, where they are fighting for their livelihoods lust like the oil, train and fast food workers.
The fight will never be over, but just a few wins will keep the wage slaves going until we can regain the control and ground lost that we had in the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s. Check out workers’ rights online courses, Workers’ Rights in a Global Economy, starting in June 1. For more information, go to:
http://iversity.org/en/courses/workers-rights-in-a-global-economy
and check out the trailer for the course at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u8dpMVfFh0
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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