One of the last things unions can get or have gotten for their members is job protection for 10 years or for life like France has, but this security is under assault. The French government has a bill which will, in the words of the anti-labor government, make France more competitive globally by extending the work, create less jobs and make layoffs easier. All this will do is enrich the companies and their greedy bosses.
These French protests were as much against the political status quo as the labor bill. There’s no difference between the right-wing French Republicans and the left-wing Socialists parties. They are both the same just different names. Both are in the service of big business, which is just what is happening here in the U.S. with the Democrats and the GOP. But in France, the hard-left flank of the General Confederation of Labour, a national trade union, is holding nationwide strikes, which the government is saying it won’t back down.
If the government wins in France, the U.S. labor force will be next in line to fight for our existence, and with all the instant communications available we have the capability but not the wherewithal to hold a nationwide strike. At this time unless we can elect Sanders or at least keep the revolution alive to bring about change that is needed to neuter the corporations’ greedy lust for money.
The workers must be thinking ahead for if the French workers lose and the GOP wins the 2016 election, they will come after workers’ rights, the remainder of the unions, $15 an hour minimum wage, pensions, healthcare plans and safety laws with a vengeance. This fight between the 1 percent and the 99 percent has just begun so pick a side before it’s too late.
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...
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