Union Perspectives

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...