Union Perspectives

There are three phases of a general strike and unions must plan for one. Those three phases are: 1. general strike in an industry 2. general strike in a community 3. general national strike We need to move away from being on the defensive and move toward a good offensive. The American Federal of Labor (AFL) could not have held a general strike if it wanted to because they had thousands of different contracts that expired at different times of the year. This was done deliberately so that there is no consolidation of power for a general strike. Also, nowadays, there is no law agency that will support labor, except the National Labor Relations Board (NLBR), which has been under attack and in decline for years. This leaves the burden of change up to unions, and unless unions work together, little will change. We essentially have a combination of job trusts, which are not as strong as contracts, and the courts can break easily because the NLBR will be further weakened and essentially elim...

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...

“Why are thousands of workers across multiple industries currently striking or planning to strike?” asks Robert Reich. “I guess it’s a mystery.” Chief Executive Officer (CEO) pay has skyrocketed 1,460 percent since 1978, while workers’ pay grew by 18 percent, Reich said. Amazon’s CEO was paid 6,474 times the company’s worker in 2021. This is a perfect example of a rigged system against the workers. The union representing the 3,300 UPS pilots say they will not cross the picket lines if the Teamster drivers and package sorters go on strike August 1, which would essentially shutdown the express logistics company’s global operations. The pilots are represented by the Independent Pilots Association, separate from the Teamsters, but in solidarity with them. The writers and actors of your favorite shows or movies are on strike and it may have to do with the fact CEOs do little of the work, but are paid way more than those who do. The CEOs currently are making at: Fox Corporation $22 million; ...

Labor should cut spending on politicians and put the money every last dime into organizing the ninety percent who have no union. This is the only way we, the unions, will ever be relevant again. And then, the politicians will come calling on us again. If we do support a politician, we can demand more tools for the ninety percent to get a union. Can anyone list how the union money contributed to politicians has actually helped unions as a whole? At this time, the AFL-CIO’s budget for new organizing is but a sliver of its budget in comparison for political contributions. This will not get us new members or more union jobs. The politicians will not do our work for us. We need to realize that we have to help ourselves. To have ninety percent of non union people pool to work for is a good thing to take advantage of. There will not be a better time than in the next two years. We have to force the Democrats to fund and rebuild the National Labor Relations Board, that has been starved of resou...

Minimum Wage for temp agencies should be $19-$20 per hour. The minimum wage should be at least $ 15 per hour and if the companies keep workers’ jobs at part time to get around paying benefits then the minimum wage for those jobs should be $19-$20 per hour. Maybe the companies would see that hiring workers part time is not paying off for them. More wage slaves would get more full-time jobs with benefits. This would be very good for our consumer-driven economy. For the wage slaves make the more they spend, which then the workers have to make more products to for wage slaves to buy, which means there will be more taxes paid and less government assistance needed. An NLRB judge once said in rendering a decision, “Wages can be increased without increases in prices. Increased production must be supported by increased consumption, which is possible through increased wages.” He also said, “Unions should not be tricked into a position where it would appear that the wage increases are in direct ...

Plan A was to organize labor into a nationwide labor union for all working wage slaves. The labor movement went from aggressively organized to playing defense, and we are getting our butts handed to us. Why? Union busting. We have now come full circle. Union busting started in the 1800 by organizations like the Pinkertons, the Baldwin-Felts, and people like James A. Farley and Pearl Bergoff. Called the kings of the strike breakers and they made millions in this line of work; but overtime workers got some relief in laws meant to protect workers like those of the National Labor Relations Board, Wagner Act, Oppressive Labor Act (Senate Bill 1970) by senators Lafollette and Thomas, who were the drivers of this bill. It worked to help labor for a time, then in the mid-1940 things started to go downhill for labor when the new union busters came on scene. People like Charles Vance, owner of International Asset Protection Team, Special Response Corporation, Hoffmaster Associates, and ManPow...

The 99% and unions are starting to worry the GOP and oligarchies are starting to turn their rhetoric toward the unions. Why? It’s because the unions can still raise money and put people on the ground. This is why the GOP/oligarchies must stop unions just like Adolph Hitler did in 1933 when issued an edict abolishing all labor unions as part of his effort to ban any political opposition. The GOP/oligarchies are pushing toward this same outcome. This is what we, the 99% and unions, must do to provide one hell of a lot of political opposition. This is a war between the very rich 1% or 1/10th of the 1% and the wage slaves and yes, Obama did appoint a majority of the current members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which was established in 1935. The NLRB was stacked against unions by the Bush administration, and now it is a fair board to all wage slaves. The GOP/oligarchies are afraid that if President Obama gets re-elected and brings along the Congress and retains the Sena...