Union Perspectives

What would Mother Jones think or say about the states, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio and Arkansas, that have changed the labor laws regarding children? Many other states are working to roll back child labor laws so children can work in meatpacking plants, auto factories, logging, construction sites and bars, which would leave children to open to be exploited or injured like in the days that Mother Jones fought most of her life to get children out of these dangerous jobs and into school. At this time, sixteen year olds can serve alcoholic drinks, fourteen year olds can work in meat packing factories and it’s all being pushed by corporations. The U.S. Department of Labor says there has been a 69 percent increase in companies illegally employing children since 2018. Some blame the child labor trend on the 3.5 percent unemployment rate and the lack of workers so naturally children should forego their futures for the sake of corporate greed and claim children can get valuable work experience and he...

What happened to our celebration of May Day? The celebration of workers’ pride. I know when I worked, we all wore our hard hats with union stickers indicating our locals. We never took them off when we went to get a drink or take a break or had lunch. It was a symbol of pride. I remember in school during the 1950s, we celebrated May Day, but from I’ve seen, it’s not celebrated or explained in school. Some teachers might have the young students make spring hats, but that has nothing to do with why May Day was established. May Day or Workers’ Day or International Workers’ Day is a celebration of the historic struggles gains made by workers. In the U.S., May Day became a day to celebrate workers/laborers in 1889 to commemorate the Chicago Haymarket Riot of 1886. Today, celebrating May Day is done all over the world except, apparently, here in the U.S. If seems as if workers are looked down upon with disdain, like losers for not working harder to become rich like others have achieved. ...

The power of the people and the common since of some of the money people have finally came together on the positive effect of a minimum wage hike to lessen wage inequality, and the positive effective of pumping cash into the economy from the spenders. Fifteen dollars an hour is the goal at this time, and Los Angeles is set to become the largest city in America to adopt the new minimum wage following the lead of Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland, and there is a movement in New York City. Some states have set new minimum wages, such as Kentucky, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and California. The governors of these states appear to understand that slave wages hurt their economies, nine are Democrats, one is an Independent (former Republican) and six are Republican. The minimum wage is lower than the $15 an hour, but at least it is a start. The wage slaves just need ...

In all wars the one thing that always happens is the dehumanizing of the opponent—usually one side will lie and make up names and other propaganda to make the enemy look bad and the other side to look good, and usually each side is on the side of some god. The opponents will just throw crap on the walls to see what sticks or resonate and this type of war tactics has a long history. It is done because most humans have some compassion for each other, but in order to get the opponents to fight or even kill each other, the enemy must be seen as not worthy of living. Usually, this is done to the people lowest on the economic ladder and can be by race, religion or location. There were times in this country when the Irish, Chinese, Indians (both American and East), Italians, blacks, Philippines, or Japanese, were looked upon with disdain. Then there were the religious hate toward Jews, Catholics, Mormons, Muslims and Seventh-day Adventists. Then there is where people live, Ukraine comes to mi...

Stand with Walmart workers this BLACK FRIDAY! All across the country the UFCW and Walmart employees are scheduling Black Friday protests to bring attention to the unfair and inhumane treatment Walmart workers receive from this company. Walmart rakes in more than $16 billion in annual profits yet the most of its workers earn less than $25,000 a year, forcing them to either work more jobs or to receive government assistance. The dream of a national strike or protest about wages and workers’ rights, like France and other countries do, has always been thought of as impossible here in the U.S. Now with large mass corporations like Walmart, Target, Home Depot, McDonalds, Taco Bell, and Burger King, which are all across the U.S., it’s now feasible to have a national protests on the Black Friday. So far this year at least 27 Walmarts across the U.S. are scheduled to have Black Friday protests and we can only hope there will be more at other corporations that are exposed for paying slave wag...

The stagnation of wages fits the narrative of class polarization. One of the reasons is the loss of unions. Our union workers were at 11.3 percent in 2013 versus 20 percent in 1983. This loss of good union paying jobs has taken money of out the economy. It is what the big nonunion box stores call “Merchant Capital,” which is the spendable income of the workers. As wages stay low or go even lower there is less and less merchant capital, and what money that is left then goes to the top 1 percent. Think Walmart’s $2.53 trillion, yes, Walmart, low pay, so-called “low prices,” and union-free business model delivers huge riches to the Arkansas Waltons. So, the day of denying the impact of rising income inequality is over. It is now destroying families. It is destroying other businesses, our democracy, and our country as we used to know it when we had a good robust middle class, a middle class that drove the consumer economy. To get this back, organized labor here and abroad must play a role...

Inequality means you get screwed. Large gaps in educational achievement and racial divides all make the reduction in inequality difficult. The poorest states in the USA are Montana, Arkansas, Mississippi and West Virginia and most of these are Red states or considered Republican non-union, but right-to-work states. The Republicans will tell you wage slaves that inequality is desirable. Inequality gives wage slaves the incentive to work harder and invest. But at some point, which is where we are now, the inequality of income and wealth becomes so wide as to harm society. When most all the economic gains go to the top; the wage slaves and everyone aspires to join the top percentage, but they no longer have the purchasing power to keep the economy going. Moreover with the small number at the top 1 percent making most of the investment decisions the economy will go up and down. Also, with the 1 percent gains more wealth they also gain more political power in a disproportionate amount, whic...