Union Perspectives

I was representing the 5 County Labor Council at a Work Force Development meeting recently in San Jose. The meeting was held in a union-organized Hilton hotel and there were hundreds of union people from all over the United States. I was shocked to learn the supposed Democratic mayor of San Jose was pushing a measure to gut workers right. I was waiting for the conference organizers to make a plan for us to hit the streets in outrage; or at least go to city hall. We did nothing that I know of. I also wondered if when the San Jose people voted for Chuck Reed for mayor did they know he would throw them under the bus. Again, when politicians have no respect for us, they will do whatever they want. I remember hearing a mob boss say in an interview that he couldn’t allow anyone to disrespect him because if they did he would lose power. Ladies and gentlemen, this is what has happened to us, we’ve allowed people/corporations to disrespect us. We have lost the power to negotiate, and with no ...