Union Perspectives

Now is the time for the working people who are raising families, who are the drivers of the so-called capitalist system that, in turn, turns workers into slaves. It is time for healthcare with no out of pocket expenses, child care, sick days, living wages and a four-day for week. If you think this is asking a lot, take a look at other countries. Belgium, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, and UK all have or testing having these benefits. If we’re so great, why are we so far behind? Greed. The very rich corporatists call those of us who advocate for these benefits “socialists” or “dreamers” and those workers with no self-awareness or interest to look beyond the term, chime in with the name calling and go further by associating it with “communists.” Instead of running from the word “Socialist,” we should not care about childish name calling and embrace it proudly, inste...

If our country is a country of laws that keeps even and honest then we need to cleanup the U.S. Supreme Court, the last stop for all lawsuits and even then they can change any laws based on previous laws. However, it appears they are now changing laws based on corporate money and vacations. Today, if the political party in the White House wants a change on the billionaire-influenced Supreme Court they would have to have the money today for any change. The corporate billionaires use Citizens United ruling to buy off the late Antonin Scalia, current Supreme Court judges Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito—that we know of—and who knows about the rest for the temptation of billions of dollars can sway even the so-called honest judges. At this time, any case, which would do damage to the 1 percent will lose, which means any labor case, union case or voting case will lose even student debt relief. On top of this any climate and healthcare laws will not make it passed the Supreme Court because t...

It is hard to believe that labor is now in a fight for the right to strike. The people who will fight labor over the right to strike are the local law enforcement, and they will be trained at the new “Cop City” that is built in Atlanta, Georgia, that the labor busting people want built. Chief among them is the Home Depot Foundation that is helping to fund the Atlanta Police Foundation’s Cop City; but a private entity fiercely opposes the plan to build the $90 million training center in the South River in the Weelaunee Forest. Cop City will have a shooting range, driving course, a mock city to train law enforcement from across the country. Part of the training center will involve urban warfare, which could be used against people excising their right to protest and labor strikes, which could be reminiscent of the Matewan Massacre. One of the leaders against Cop City is Vincent Quiles, who had worked at Home Depot and tried to unionize the workers before being fired. Home Depot used a vi...

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the lone vote against Glacier Northwest v. Teamsters. Though the Court left in place—for now—the right to strike. However, Justice Amy Coney Garrett made it easier to sue unions/employees for striking if “certain instance of property damages occur.” At what point does a company use lost profits or reputation as property damages? Corporations have shown they will stop at nothing to destroy unions and workers’ rights. They have shown they will stop at nothing to be the wealthiest. The fact that workers can still strike is good news for the hundreds of journalists in eight states who are striking against Gannett, the largest newspaper chain in the U.S.—Arizona Republic, the Austin American-Statesman, the Bergen Record, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, and the Palm Beach Post. Workers claim the cost-cutting measurers by the company, which were the elimination of journalist jobs, and closing of newsrooms, which the union members are sa...