Union Perspectives

In 2012 more than a quarter of all political contributions came from just 30,000 people who represented the 1 percent of the 1 percent, 90 percent who spent the most won. Today, we are an experiment in either a democracy, which started in 1787 or an oligarchy, which is winning. The nonunion people, like Trump and Musk, have most all the tools in their pockets to destroy our unions. They have money, they have the courts, they have law enforcement, they have the media, and 50 percent of workers that don’t know this don’t know the history of the working class people. This is the perfect storm to lose all the gains workers have made whether they’re union or not, even our Social Security and Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act. So, now we will have to go way back to the late 1920s and ‘30s and dig up the old labor party books. One book, written in 1964, has the information, The Rebel Voices, an IWW Anthology by Joyce L. Kornbluh, educator, activist, and advocate. The history of our labor...

Each blog I write from here on out could be my last. I don’t know if or when they will shut me down, but I will keep the blog going for as long as I can. I’m not engaging in hyperbole, not with what is coming at us in January. We need to protect and defend the National Labor Relations Board. When Trump was last in office, he systematically eliminated workers’ rights to join unions and negotiate collective bargaining with employers—this not only hurt employees, but their communities and the economy overall. Trump weakened worker protections and actively worked at eliminating rules that protected workers. We need to keep the NLRB for all workers, for organizing workers and nonunion workers and build a workers’ union that is much stronger than the MAGA or the old Tea Party. Our unions will fight and win. The benefits unions fight for eventually work their way down to nonunion workers. If MAGAs weren’t so hellbent on owning the Libs, they, too, would enjoy a four-day work-week with full p...

Workers are still unionizing their workplaces so here is a shoutout to the nurses at the University Medical Center, a private hospital in New Orleans and the only level-one trauma center. The nurses held a one-day strike, but had been bargaining with the hospital for eight months regarding workplace concerns, such as safety and more money. There are about 600 nurses, considered the backbone of all hospitals, working at UMC. All of our unions should be giving them our support in any way that helps them succeed. If the election doesn’t go blue, this type of worker protests could very well end if the election goes red. This year with our president’s and vice president’s support of unions, there have been some big wins for labor. If we lose, the National Labor Relations Board will be eliminated and all states will become right to work states, which is the kiss of death to unions. Today, twenty-seven states have right to work laws, which prohibits union contracts. Right to work is a new t...

International Brotherhood of Teamsters are following the United Auto Workers in making history with the groundbreaking joint employer decision against Amazon. Now, the Longshoremen have gotten a groundbreaking contract, as well. This is very telling on what labor can do if they all pull together. These are some of the best deals in the last 30 years. However, all can be lost in the next election if our members vote for the wrong candidate. It is not hyperbole, but history, to say Republicans hate unions. This election, all must set aside some of the “piss me off” things and vote for the people who will stand up for unions and the working people, union or nonunion. The richest 1 percent have half of the worlds wealth while the rest of us only have 0.75 percent. Since 2020, this 1 percent have taken 63 percent of all the wealth. In the U.S., 800 billionaires have more than half of the nation’s wealth while the bottom half of our families have 2.5 percent. Do you think these rich peop...

Labor’s war is a David vs Goliath fight, but sometimes Goliath wins the battle but ultimately David will win the war, and here is one way it can be done in rural areas. Small towns that sit 40 to 50 miles away from larger cities have power for the low-wage workers have power for the low wage workers have nothing to lose for they have nothing, so they can and should use that nothing, which is a power, for better working conditions, such as good wages, regular working hours, healthcare—maybe even childcare. Employees can withhold their labor or just move. Businesses don’t have that option. So, labor in small towns should stand together for a good minimum wage and benefits. Wages should be $26 per hour. Given the income corporations are raking in today, they can well afford to pay their employees better. Healthcare workers, food workers, house keeping and any worker in town can join the town union (as the UAW has shown) and the unions could be the ones to join: fire, police and country ...

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...

The success of the GOP has been its long game. They started what they call “The Transformations” during the Reagan’s election to reshape the American Society. Now they have Project 2025 and Agenda 47 aka Trump’s shadow government, which is essentially Project 2025, but Trump’s version. Labor and the working people are the only ones who can beat back these regressive, anti-worker plans. Labor must take these remaining 80-plus days before the election and organize more members. If your union doesn’t have the need or resources to expand to expand their unions then at least support others who want a union or are on the picket line, like Cornell University employees. This could be labor’s last stand. In 80 days, all bets are off if the GOP wins. Your vote could be the one that wins to keep labor unions and Social Security fore retirees or your vote could take it away and Project 2025 will be the law of the land. We, in labor, must start to defend our union jobs and our pensions and learn h...

If you are a union worker or wanting to start a union where you work, there will never be a better time to go for better pay and benefits. At this time we have a president and president-to-be walking picket lines supporting union workers—this has never happened in my eighty-three years. Shawn Fain, president of the UAW union, knows this and is making the most of it by winning and, let’s face it, all people like to be on a winning team. All unions should be stepping up for their members and those wanting to be union members. All union members must vote down the GOP and its Project 2025 and Agenda 47 plans, which will destroy our unions and the nonunion minimum wage even your dad and mom’s and even your Social Security will be gone. This is the time to put all differences aside and vote blue to keep our country as it is for all of us. There is always time down the road to make changes and build upon what we have as needed, but to do this we must keep our country of laws that support all ...

Could union members lose their pensions plus their Social Security? Yes, they can if Project 2025 is acted upon. As unions are distracted by the right to work states and soon the whole country by the attacks from all sides, it could happen. If they succeed in implementing Project 2025, the right to own a gun will become against the law. There will be no working union people to keep their unions solvent resulting in people losing their union pensions and their Social Security. This is the plan of the GOP and corporations is to rid the country of unions and if Project 2025 is implement we can kiss pensions, safe working conditions and laws and protecting our children from slave labor goodbye. Already, the large corporations think unions are irrelevant and with owning the Supreme Court, they are mostly right. It is now or never for our members to push our union leaders to close ranks for the fight of our life time. We need two plans: one to stop the GOP and its Project 2025 plan, and a ...

The GOP are already checking off things on their Project 2025 list. What we will end up with is a master class and a subject class, which to you think you will be in? If you are reading this then you probably will be in the subject class, the ones who will ruled by the master class—the very rich who has just bought the U.S. Supreme Court and our government. Now, for our gun owners, do you think the rich ruling class is going to let the subject class run around with all of our guns? No. They will have to get them by force if necessary so the rich will feel safe. They will also have to get rid of all unions and labor laws. As long as the GOP has control of the courts they can just make new laws or change existing laws that work for them and the billionaire class. Now, the best the subjects or 99 percent is for you to do at this time is vote. Vote for what is good for you and your family, and at this time we still don’t have to tell them who we voted for so just vote for what is right an...

Will we have a democracy in 2025 or a dictatorship? We are one vote either way. There are times in life when we must put aside our own beliefs and do what must be done for the betterment of all of us and our way of life, such as having unions, free speech, healthcare, Social Security/Medicare in retirement and good education for all. If Project 2025 and Agenda 47 go into effect, all bets are off. Project 2025 is a 920-page mandate for leadership that Trump’s handlers want to become law. All of this will be done at their discretion and we will not be able to go to the streets to protest and if we do, we will be shot like Trump wanted to do to protesters when he was in office. Project 2025 would include firing all Department of State heads by the end of the day on Jan. 20, 2025. Senior State Department appointment leaders will be acting roles so they won’t need Senate confirmation. The plan is a collection of policy transition plans should Trump succeed in stealing the election again, a...

Union members need to answer just one question. Who do they think is looking out for them and their families? This the same question non-union workers should be asking themselves. Even retired workers and those workers who can’t work should be asking themselves. Now, labor knows the GOP does not want unions, and their billionaire supporters want all unions gone because unions are the only army large enough to slow down the billionaire from taking over this country. Union and non-union workers members now must pick which side they are on and if it is unions then they need to do all they can, like vote for who supports them. And then work with all unions to win in the 2024 election. If we lose this election, we will lose the life we have now for unions will be one of the first protections to go, followed by voting rights. We will not be able to go to the streets to protest against laws that abridge our rights. The next six months will be the life or death of the working people and union...

For the last twenty to thirty years, labor fell victim to cultural amnesia. However, labor is seeing a resurgence as it remembers what strong unions can do. Labor is back in a big way, and we are winning with public support. It’s looking like the stars have come in line for labor is kicking ass. We cannot slow down and we must go for the big things, like a four-day work week with same pay, healthcare for all, free education to a bachelor’s degree or a trade school, child care and elder care. These are things commonly provided to workers in other counties. We must get most of our contracts to end on April 1 at 12 in 2025. Brothers and sisters, this is real power and we will use it to labor’s benefit. We must build hardcore unions and then fight to get these rights enshrined into law, if not the Constitution. To do this, we have unionize workers; Then we have to educate these employees about unions, and how to keep them; Educate them about the importance of voting and voting for those ...

Can Elon Musk, worth $180 billion, Jeff Bezos, worth $114 billion, Starbucks and Trader Joe’s stop labor? At this time there is a resurgence in the labor movement in the U.S. and Musk and Bezos, with support from Starbucks and Trader Joe’s. Together they are trying to get a case before the U.S. Supreme Court that would eliminate the National Labor Relations Board, which was established in 1935, because they say it it is unconstitutional as it mixes audial and executive functions. They are counting on Justice Samuel Alito, an anti-union zealot who makes no secret of his determination to over turn protections for workers and then unions, will fight on their behalf. This would be the second time that the rich people tried to eliminate the NLRB in 1937, but in those days, the Supreme Court followed the law, not like today. If they succeed they would or could kill the labor movement in the U.S. This is why the Democrats must win the 2024 election for the president, the House and the Senat...

In 1912, Eugene V. Debs said, “The workers can be emancipated only by their own collective will … and this collective will and conquering power can only be the result of education, enlightenment and self-imposed discipline.” The working class has to advance together or not at all for unionized labor has become but an island of well being in a sea of resentful low-wage-unseen aspirants due to income inequality within the working class. If labor is to make progress it should work with their community’s but not at the expense of the community. One example of at the community’s expense is the Cop City project in Georgia. At this time, Labor is on a roll, but this can stop with a wrong election or with a single stroke of a pen and all of collective bargaining could be wiped out. But the good news is, we have found some new labor leaders and they are winning, such as Shawn Fain with United Auto Workers, Sara Nelson with the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, and Sean O’Brien with Teamster...

The United Auto Workers union is kicking serious ass. All unions should look at what is working for them and what has not. If they are winning for their people, labor needs to do big things that will change the lives of their members for the long term, such as child care and a labor school, where members and families can learn how to make their lives better, and how to run strikes, work stoppages, electing labor people to local, state and federal government offices. We are in a fight for our existence and all union members must embrace Sun Tzu's, "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." We need a trained Army. This way we can get the court system back to where they support the laws fairly when lawsuits involve labor and our families instead of the ...

This is the year of labor. We have had some very good wins, but now the work begins for the big fight in 2028 when a lot of the contracts expire at midnight on May Day, May 30. On this day we, labor people, could pull off a nationwide strike to get a four-day work week with full pay, healthcare with no out of pocket costs, better pensions and a universal basic income for those who fall through the cracks. This can be paid for by the mega millionaires and billionaires. These money hoarders need to pony up and pay their fair share instead of getting on their ponies and riding off to one of their tax havens. To counter the rich, we must elect labor-friendly people from the bottom up who will tax the greedy, instead of taking their “political contributions.” Volkswagen recently had a union vote. The final tally was 2,628 in favor of a union, 985 against. What the hell is wrong with these 985 workers? This is where organizers could begin their unionizing by educating workers on labor histor...

The source of all wealth is labor and if our labor leaders use our labor the right way we can make large wins, like a four-day work week with full pay and all the benefits; and a UBI for those who fall through the cracks. This is the way we rebuild the country and the democracy and the working class, which will be a good middle class. We need to look at what is most important for the 99 percent, and pay attention to what we can do. Yes, there are other important things that we need to keep fighting for, such as climate change, the U.S. Supreme Court and cases before this corporate-owned majority, such as labor rights, voting rights, and women’s right to choose. To change this we must elect a president who will appoint law abiding people to the courts. Most of these concerns are long-range goals that we must continue to work on. For now, let’s work on what we can do to educate and encourage all labor people to vote for their own and their family’s best interests, and our unions. We must...

Is Senator Bernie Sanders the person to lead labor in politics? What would happen if Senator Bernie Sanders and Shawn Fain, president of the United Automobile Workers, joined forces? Could Bernie, with labors help, get the working people a four-day work week with full pay, healthcare with no out of pocket costs, childcare and free education and a universal basic income for those who fall between the cracks? Before you say or think this is wishful thinking, go back and look at what we used to have before Republicans started chipping away at benefits so that corporations wouldn’t have to suffer a loss in profits. If that’s not enough look at other countries that take care of their people and corporations still make profits, just not obscene profits. Labor needs a person who can carry the torch in government for the union workers and in trade unions need to support the torch bearer, Bernie Sanders, and the people he supports to get the votes needed to get the laws that support the workin...

Labor must always be on the offense so we must never rest. There should never be time that we are not organizing for new members and shops. This is a 24-7, 365-day a year job that unions must commit to in order to beat the destructive nonunion GOP corporations wishing to destroy the union way of life. Every town with a labor counsel should be the headquarters for organizing for all unions at one time. We started a program called Labor Cities. Maybe we should look at that program again. Unions need to work on a ‘work-life’ balance, like a four-day work week with full pay. Workers need to stop and think about how they are selling their time one hour at a time and time is the greatest resource that we have in our lives and on this earth. Corporations want to exploit this resource as cheaply as they can get without regard to the hardships on the workers. Corporations are not your friends. Remember the billionaire class. They have a different set of rules for themselves and expect everybody...

The working people and unions need to be thinking big and way ahead to keep up with the working conditions, which continue to change with the advancement of automation and artificial intelligence, which is going to put people out of work. A.I. is an inevitable by product of progress and unions have t be prepared for the changes that come with it. These workers are not going away. They will still need shelter, food, and healthcare. They are the spenders who buys the goods and products that the corporations market. So, one way to keep the money flowing is a universal basic income. This way, people can work for less if their union negotiate a good contract. Then there is the possibility of a four-day work week, which will be a big change in the work environment. There are some good things which can come from the four-day work week. Our unions are the ones that should be upfront and at the table to get the best deal for their union workers. The corporations will be looking out for their...

It’s time for labor to go for something very big in the U.S., which always seems to lag behind other countries when it comes to workers. Labor is on a very big winning streak and it’s just like the snowball rolling down a hill. The farther it rolls down the hill the bigger and more powerful it becomes. But if it stops, it will just melt away. The union snowball today is still rolling and getting bigger so let’s go for the four-day work week. The four-day work week gives workers more time with their families, enabling them to do more together, which could, conceivably, improve marriages and reduce juvenile delinquency rates. This work week could be a huge lift to the lifestyle of all workers and their families and the social infrastructure of their communities. There are so many unrecognized benefits to a schedule like this. Benefits and pay would remain the same as a five-day work week. The workers would have more time to participate in their children’s activities, volunteer to be a f...

If there is no class warfare then why are the one percenters, the billionaires, building bunkers, buying thousands of acres of land, buying islands, building superyachts, and going into space looking for potentially inhabitable planets? Do they know more than we, the peons, do about what is happening and what is expected to happen? Just what are they afraid of? Do they think the proletariats are coming for them with pitchforks? If so, why would they think this way? Guilty conscience, maybe? Could it be that they know that a few people that possess 99% of the wealth in the world is unsustainable, and are worried about the 99% of the people will do and will they declare a class war? The 99% against the 1%, and if I was a member of the 1%, I would change my ways or dig a deeper bunker. Even with bunkers, super yachts, islands or their money and thousands of acres of land, they will still need fuel, food, water, medicine, medical care, and who will they trust to do it for them? There has ...

Unions new slogan should be “Organize or Die.” We must be stronger by the 2024 elections because we don’t know for sure what the outcome will be. When we are striking or organizing, our workers will see the need to vote and vote for people who support workers. They see this when on the picket line or when working for a union they will vote for and to keep a union. This is when workers understand what is at stake and who their friends are. So, in the 2024 election, workers will have a friendly president and government or they will have a president who will turn government on unions and its members. Either way, now is the time for all unions and its members to come together least for this year. Unions that have problems with other unions have got to set aside their differences and issues at least for this year or we could very possibly lose our unions and the security unions provide to the workers. On the other hand, if union workers prevail in 2024 with the election of a Democratic pr...

Why do corporations fear a class warfare? Is it because there are more of us than there are of them? Is it because if we put our hands in our pockets all work stops? I think the greedy anti-union people have awaken a sleeping giant and the unions are responding by organizing strikes for better contracts for union like the United Auto Workers (UAW), UPS, Association of Flight Attendants, Teamsters. The working class people have focused on the power that we have when we stand together, and the power that we have when we withhold our labor, nothing is going to move. UAW union labor leader Shawn Fain has restored the unions’ fighting force and called out corporations power in unapologetic terms. Fain wore an “Eat the Rich” T-shirt and announced that “billionaires, in my opinion, don’t have a right to exist.” Yes, it is war and the unions are going to align union contracts across the industries to make way for bigger, bolder strikes. Now is our time when we have the support of our U.S. p...

The death of the labor movement will be from the infighting of our labor unions. We have labor unions never speaking to each other. These are our bothers and sisters. This hate can be found in our AFL/CIO or any union group and is a gift to the GOP anti-union anti labor people and we are giving this to them as a gift, and they are using it against us while unions stand around squabbling. Now, it will take time to work out the jurisdictional problems among the trades, but in the meantime we must unite and work together as one to elect the politicians who are staunch labor supporters. We must forget about the pettiness some unions engage in thinking their type of labor is better, more significant than others, but this arrogance forgets that one without the others is nothing. A home without plumbing is incomplete. A home without electricity is incomplete. A home without a roof is incomplete. A home without cabinets is incomplete. You get my drift. It takes all of the trades to keep this c...

All union people should fully understand what an autocracy is and what it will do to their lives and families. It will be the end to Democracy as we know it today. We will end up with despot who thinks he’s a king who will partner up with the oligarchs to get more money and power. They believe that rules are for suckers and chumps. They have bought the highest court in the land and the person who wants to be the king is Trump. He does not just want to be an oligarch, but he wants to rule them. The oligarchs want to rule the people and what better way than to build company towns where they own the houses, stores, schools, churches and the jobs. This is the ultimate control of peoples lives. Some of these people, who harbor these fantasies, are Jan Sramek, Micheal Moritz, Reid Hoffman, Patrick and John Collison, Daniel Gross, Marc Andreessen, Laurene Powell Jobs (Jobs’ widow), Nat Freeman are the Silicon Valley heavies who have bought 55,000 acres of farm land for $800 million in Solan...

Unions’ long game is to get all union contracts to expire on the same day nationwide. The United Auto Workers combines contracts ends on April 28, 2028. This could then result in a mass national strike starting on May Day beeginning that year. This could then put enormous pressure on employers, but also on lawmakers. It’s the muscle and sweat of the workers that keeps this country great, not the individual company or corporations. This May Day strike would be the time to change the workers’ world for the better by negotiating for a 32-hour week with the same pay, and the U.S. adopts a healthcare for all with no out of pocket costs. This would also help the employers as they would no longer have to provide healthcare. By striking, the UAW won same pay for new workers, all UAW contracts will end on the same date, a 25-percent pay increase, a cost of living adjustments, a guaranteed right to strike over potential plant closures, and also the right to vote to unionize through the card che...