Union Perspectives

Laborers of the world over must stop depending on governments to look out for their interests. At this time no political party is working for or defending workers. Government policies now are pitting people against each other by promoting and establishing wars resulting in millions of refugees. The refugees flood host countries for safety, but end up being used as cheap labor by those benefitting from the wars the refugees are fleeing. This cheap labor is used to break the unions and labor laws and drives wages and benefits down. Nothing can stop this but the people. The governments and the oligarchies make their profits off the misery of others. Labor has always won when they were in charge. Labor laws were not put into place to help the workers, they were established by President Franklin Roosevelt to stop strikes, which were beating back the nonunion workers. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rules were to replace the decisions that were being made from fighting for rights...

Wage slaves who have the illusion that their problems can be solved through electing reformist politicians must remember that the nature of capitalism is not to allow mass needs preference over corporate profits. Demands for services change in social conditions will be vigorously opposed by the ruling class—Koch brothers, Wall Street and all the others. The capitalist-designed electoral system is used to corrupt elected representatives of both parties. Even my hero President Franklin Roosevelt, who purported to assure labor the right to organize trade unions and to bargain collectively with bosses, but it was a hollow promise. In the practice he continued to use the deferral government as a strikebreaker agency, simply using subtler methods than previously used for such purposes. The year 1934 was a hard fought year for labor, but they won while even taking on the National Guard in Toledo, Ohio. May 1934, labor fought the Guard with bare fists and rocks in the 6,000 Auto-lite strike an...

Has the proletarian class finally found a leader? Could Bernie Sanders be the next Eugene Debs or Franklin Roosevelt? At this time, it looks like he very well could the person that the 99 percent were waiting for. He is not only saying the right things, but he has lived these principles, and he has always advocated for these things his entire life even when some thought he what he was saying was crazy. In fact, when he was younger he started every day by saying his ideas are not crazy, and it seems to be he is right if the numbers gathering to see him are any indication. Single payer healthcare for everyone, a living wage, jobs for all, a good retirement, pensions, taxing the rich and removing the Social Security cap where the rich do not pay into the program. These are the things that resonate with the young, the unions, and the old—and these not crazy, especially since people are awakening to the fact that system is stacked against them courtesy of the rich and GOP. Bernie Sanders...

The Democrats and the President need to step up to the plate and back the workers and unions in this class warfare. If Democrats can’t arrest the downward spiral of America’s economical lives of the 99 percent, maybe a new party is needed. The workers’ need is more than the minimum wage increase of $15 to $18 an hour. We need to restore workers’ collective bargaining in pay, benefits and hours. To do this we need stronger labor laws that protect us, the workers, and plug the holes in the existing laws that have been decimated in the last 40 years. The government should also re-establish the link between economic growth and Americans’ incomes. There is a way to tie economic growth to wages, which would be a shared prosperity for all. It’s been done before. We need a strong labor leader like President Franklin Roosevelt. When he was at Madison Square Garden; he singled out business and financial monopoly speculation and reckless banking as enemies of a social peace. Government by organiz...

The stock market is close to a never before high of 17,000. Wall Street still will not support Main Street’s minimum wage increase, which should be even higher than the $15 to $18 than advocated and now some say should be more like $22 an hour if the minimum had kept up with inflation. Never the less, it is now been shown the need by workers and businesses that there has to be cash in the pockets of the spenders to save the capitalist consumer society. The Stock holders of large corporations should be the ones pushing their CEOs (chief executive officers) to raise the workers’ wages, especially when their wages are so high that they border on obscene. What is it with these CEO thinking they deserve such high compensation while others, the ones who do the work, are being paid chump change? Are these CEOs so greedy and heartless that they turn a blind’s eye to the suffering of others? Do they really think they are the only ones entitled to the good life? They don’t feel the pain the re...

Why is the living wage so important? First, the “Have Littles” need to be and should be able to survive without government aide when they work. Second, is that getting the minimum wage to $15 to $18 an hour is the only way the little people can pry cash out of the hands of the hoarders and put in back into circulation. Increasing the minimum wage supports the spenders who will, with their buying habits, create more jobs to make and service the products that are purchased. This is also the reason that the $10 to $12 an hour will not work. It will only disqualify these workers from government aide; but the $15 to $18 an hour minimum wage would not only remove the need for government aide, but would also give the workers some disposal income. We, the workers, probably are the only means to pry this money from the greedy. The government will fight with lobbyists tooth and nail to stop a higher wage. Just look at one of the big reasons that the cash is growing in the hands of just a few a...

Franklin Roosevelt once said, “The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself.” If all of us, the 99 percent, would adhere to this sentiment by Roosevelt we would take away about 90 percent of the anti-workers’ playbook. Whenever the oligarchies want to stop or destroy a movement, program or an idea which would advance the good of the working people, they use fear, such as the everlasting attacks on healthcare, Medicare, and the never-ending battle against Social Security and unions. All of which perpetuates dignity and freedom for the wage slaves. Just think what our lives would be like without these things. We would literally be at the total mercy of the 1 percent. Our young people would not be able to see a future and our wage slaves would soon sink into despair and this would be what the 1 percent would think would be a victory; but in reality it would be a death sentence to capitalism as we know it today. Fear and despair does not motivate people to work harder, study harder or em...

Labor needs to vote labor in local, state and U.S. government elections. The GOP elephant was the right pick for its logo for they never forget and will not change even if it means its demise. To think that they are still angry about the New Deal of President Franklin Roosevelt some 75 years ago; this is just stupid. They should rename the party ‘Gone on Past’ stupid party. Eleanor Roosevelt had to fight the ‘right to work for less’ 70 years ago and the stupid party is still waving that right to work for less flag. Eleanor Roosevelt’s argument then was, “I am opposed to right to work legislation because it does nothing for working people but, instead, gives employers the right to exploit labor.” She was right then and what she said 70 years ago is still accurate today. So what I do not understand is why labor is still losing the fight for there are more wage slaves than there are oligarchies. Is it that maybe the wage slaves are just as stupid as the GOP? If so, then the question sho...

Our union messages have already been written. All we need to do is put them on the television, radio and in print. One message we need for California union workers was written by UAW past president Walter Reuther: There’s a direct relationship between the breadbox and the ballot box and what the union fights for and wins at the bargaining table can be taken away in the legislative halls and our members need to understand this or we will lose this in the fall election. The second union message was written by a union leader past president of the AFL, Samuel Gompers, was titled “What Does Labor Want?” "We want more schools, houses, and less jails, more books and less arsenals, more learning and less greed, more justice and less revenge; in fact, more of the opportunities to cultivate our better natures, to make manhood more noble, womanhood more beautiful, and childhood more happy and bright." The third message comes from President Franklin Roosevelt on wages. He wrote in 1933 ...

Roosevelt said if the private sector could or would not hire 11 million of America’s workers while corporations sat on millions of dollars, then he would and make the wealthy in this country pay for it by implementing higher taxes on corporations and the 1%. It’s the same as today. Roosevelt made it clear how they, the corporations and rich, would ultimately benefit from workers having money to buy products the companies made. He also pointed out that the workers might otherwise take over. Same as the OWS are thinking about doing today. Also the unions were demanding that something be done about unemployment and the suffering of the working people. Same as today. In 1956, President Eisenhower said, “Only a fool would try to deprive working men and women of joining a union of their choice.” Isn’t it ironic that he was a Republican? There was enough fear of the 99% taking over at the time that the rich and corporations agreed to pay a far more in taxes then they pay now. Roosev...

Wall Street protesters are now nationwide and worldwide. There is no doubt that the 99ers are at last starting to realize that there is no one person riding in to save them. It will take all of the 99ers working together and, yes, some will do much more and some will do little for now, but as history tells us, the longer they hold out the more support will come in - people, money and political help. The 99ers are now starting to get support and advice from the ‘60s’ protesters, which, if listened to, can be of great help. They have been there and their lessons learned can teach the younger protesters a thing or two about options and pitfalls that happened to them. Recently, Tom Hayden let slip in a recent interview that 10,000 to 20,000 people sitting down on Main Street of New York or L.A. will bring on arrests and then each person demand a jury trial, which would literally shut down the city and court system. Just a hint from the old pros, some do have many options and if the cor...

Are we, the working class, nonunion, union, and retirees, ready to start pushing back on the assault on us? Understand that the corporations lead the GOP and will not stop until union and worker rights, unemployment insurance, minimum wage, Social Security and Medicare are gone. The GOP have bankrupt our economy and now think they can force us into cutting our programs. This is not new. The GOP and corporations have never given up on this since Frances Perkins and President Roosevelt, during the Great Depression, passed and signed into law Social Security, unemployment, minimum wage, and the right to organize. At this point in history, union membership had fallen to 5 percent. Today, union membership is roughly at 3 percent private and 30 percent public. In order to increase the union numbers we would need to have card check or Employee Free Choice Act needs to be brought up for a vote, but we need a party strong enough to bring card check for a vote, and to fight for and represent u...