US Workers: Resurgent or Waging a Rearguard Action?
18 February 2011By Stephen Lendman
For decades, organized labor has been hammered after
painful years of organizing, taking to the streets,
going on strike, holding boycotts, battling police and
National Guard forces, and paying with their blood and
lives before real gains were won.
Important ones included an eight hour day, a living
wage, essential benefits including healthcare and
pensions, and the pinnacle of labor's triumph with
passage of the landmark 1935 Wagner Act, establishing
the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). It
guaranteed labor the right to bargain collectively
with management on equal terms for the first time,
what's now sadly lost.
After signing it on July 5, 1935, Franklin Roosevelt
said:
"This Act defines....the right of self-organization of
employees in industry for the purpose of collective
bargaining, and provides methods by which the
Government can safeguard that legal right....A better
relationship between labor and management is the high
purpose of this Act....it seeks for every worker
within its scope, that freedom of choice and action
which is justly his....it should serve as an important
step toward the achievement of just and peaceful labor
relations in industry."
Grassroots activism won important gains. Management
gave nothing until forced nor did government, siding
always with business, yielding only to stop sustained
disruptive work stoppages, street violence or possible
insurrection.
In 1935, a worried Congress and administration acted.
After WW II, however, organized labor declined.
Passage of the 1947 Taft-Hartley Labor-Management
Relations Act was the first major blow. Harry Truman
vetoed it, calling it a "slave labor bill," then
hypocritically used it 10 times, the most ever by a
president to this day.
Under Reagan, labor rights declined precipitously,
beginning in August 1981 by firing 11,000 striking
PATCO air traffic controllers, jailing its leaders,
fining the union millions of dollars, effectively
busting and declaring war on organized labor by a
president openly contemptuous of worker rights.
From then to now, so are Democrats and Republicans,
exacting a devastating toll thereafter. From union
membership's post-war 1950s 34.7% high, the Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the following on
January 21, 2011:
In 2010, membership ranks declined from 12.3% in 2009
to 11.9% currently, a shadow of its former self in
collapse. "The number of wage and salary workers
belonging to unions declined by 612,000 to 14.7
million." Among public sector workers, 36.7% are
organized compared to 6.9% for private sector ones,
down from 30% in 1958, their peak.
According to 2009 BLS figures, organized public sector
ranks surpassed private ones for the first time, even
though commerce and industry employs five times more
workers.
Today, the US Postal Service has three times more than
auto companies, no thanks to corrupted union bosses
colluding with business and government, betraying
their rank and file. As a result, labor historian Paul
Buhle sees organized labor collapsing, and labor
author Robert Fitch compared American workers to
"owners of a family car whose wheels fell off long
ago. Each family member (now must rely) on their own
two feet; they scarcely remember what it was like
being able to ride together." They don't recall once
having rights long ago stripped and lost.
Why? Because union bosses sold out, siding with
employers, getting big salaries and fancy perks, and
being more concerned with their own welfare than rank
and file members they represent. Or so they claim.
Continuing where Reagan/Bush, Clinton and Bush II left
off, Obama colluded with union bosses to impose his
business-friendly agenda on working Americans, gutting
their rights methodically since taking office.
Should his gutless response to Wisconsin protesters
surprise? In a February 16 Milwaukee WTMJ television
interview, he posed fraudulently as worker-friendly,
saying:
"Everybody's got to make some adjustments to new
fiscal realities," endorsing wage cuts to "save jobs,"
adding:
"Some of what I've heard coming out of Wisconsin,
where you're just making it harder for public
employees to collectively bargain, generally seems
like more of an assault on unions."
This by a president who disdains working Americans.
Many thought his election would end Bush era politics.
Instead they intensified by trashing worker rights,
including under an appointed Auto Task Force,
eliminating tens of thousands of jobs, ravaging
communities, imposing draconian new hire demands, and
appointing a "pay czar" to reward management.
His administration endorses the "new normal,"
including 22% + unemployment, poverty wages, eroding
benefits, and pensions targeted for elimination to
help states and enrich corporate bosses more. Yet for
some, he's a "people's president," a man with a
message: "Change," and "Yes We Can." Yes he did, in
fact, serve corporate interests, not loyal
constituents he trashed for big money.
Feigning support for Wisconsin protesters, he said
nothing about Governor Walker's threat to use National
Guard force against them, a clear constitutional First
Amendment assault.
Protesters so far are undaunted, their ranks growing
and spreading across the state in solidarity, but to
what avail. Expected passage of Walker's bill was only
was delayed when Senate Democrats walked out. They
took refuge in neighboring Illinois, ignoring a
Republican "call of the House," sending police off to
find them, a shameless political stunt.
Their maneuver, in fact, is delay, negotiate, co-op
union bosses, and reach accommodation with Walker and
majority Republicans. As a result, the fix is in to
force first-step draconian measures, more coming
later, including concessions on collective bargaining
rights. Activists know the scheme well, University of
Wisconsin-Superior Professor Joel Sipress saying:
"We all know that this is part of a broader assault on
the ability of working people in this state and this
country to have decent, humane lives. The same people
who want to strip public workers of their rights -
they're the same (ones) who want to say to all of us
'it is a sink-or-swim society.' We will not allow
Wisconsin to become a state where the working people
live off the scraps that are thrown to them by the
economic elite."
Protests Spread to Ohio, Indiana,
Michigan and Perhaps Beyond
Building on Middle East and Wisconsin momentum, over
1,000 people rallied in Ohio's Columbus Statehouse on
February 15, opposing Senate Bill 5 (SB5), a measure
eliminating collective bargaining rights for 40,000
state workers, reducing it for firefighters, police,
teachers, and others, as well as facilitating other
draconian measures when existing contracts expire.
They include wage and benefit cuts, elimination of
seniority-based pay increases and job security,
heading toward ending all worker rights, including
empowering government to abrogate worker contracts in
case of "emergencies."
Similar anti-worker schemes are proceeding in other
states, including California, New York, Illinois,
Indiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and
eventually perhaps most, if not all, unless sustained
Wisconsin momentum intervenes everywhere.
In Ohio, Republican legislators and Governor John
Kasich (a former congressional Republican stalwart),
support SB5. The bill's author, Senator Shannon Jones,
backed it "to give the government flexibility and
control over its workforce," leaving no doubt where
she, Kasich and most state lawmakers stand - united
against worker equity, job security, wages, benefits,
and pension rights to make Ohio more "competitive" for
business.
Angry workers responded, knowing their hard-won gains
will be lost if SB5 passes which seems likely. Lashing
out, a firefighter told AP: "When you take away
collective bargaining, we have no rights at all." At a
Columbus press conference, a retired state employee
warned:
"We're not going back to the 20th century. We're going
back to the 19th century. These are the stories that
Charles Dickens wrote about, those kind of employers.
If you allow this to happen, what comes next?"
Kasich said he's committed to SB5, regardless of
public sentiment, adding that if passage fails, he'll
prohibit state worker strikes in his upcoming budget
proposal. In mid-February, addressing the Ohio
Newspaper Association, he said:
"I can promise you that big-city mayors favor what I'm
doing. They want this. They're not going to tell you
that, but they want this," meaning, of course, he'll
assure they get it and more.
Indiana workers take note. On January 27, AP's Deanna
Martin headlined, "Indiana panel OKs bill limiting
teacher bargaining," saying:
"A Republican-controlled Senate committee advanced a
contentious proposal....critics contend would strip
Indiana teachers of their collective bargaining
rights." It's a measure Republican Governor Mitch
Daniels supports as part of his sweeping education
agenda.
If enacted, only wage and benefits negotiating will be
permitted. Local contracts henceforth will exclude the
right to bargain on evaluation and dismissal
procedures, working conditions, and other related
issues. Special education teacher Diana Koger told
lawmakers that proposed measures strip teachers of all
rights, giving school boards full authority.
Nonetheless, passage by Indiana's Republican seems
likely, step one before targeting all state workers.
On February 18, Michigan's WILX television reported
state worker protests over cuts, saying their message
is "Enough is enough," rallying in the Lansing capital
to make lawmakers and Republican Governor Rick Snyder
listen.
Chanting "Legislators get the gold mine, workers get
the shaft," they rallied outside the Capitol building
against Snyder's budget proposal, wanting public
workers to absorb $180 million dollars in cuts,
including hundreds of eliminated jobs.
One worker had it right saying:
"They can fire every state employee....but you're not
going to fix the budget cause you're not generating
revenue. Everyone....is responsible for this debt, not
just state employees, not just the poor, not just kids
trying to get an education."
According to Ken Moore, president of the Michigan
State Employees Association, "Let's close up the
corporate loopholes where come of the big money's at.
Let's close those up so we can get back to a
reasonable budget." He wants workers to be part of the
solution, not a casualty they're becoming as in other
states across the country. As a result, Main Street
America is becoming a wasteland, a backwater, facing
inhumane third world harshness.
Dismissive Major Media Responses
On February 17, New York Times writer Monica Davey
headlined, "Democrats Missing, Wisconsin Vote on Cuts
Is Delayed," saying:
They walked out, "Republicans fumed," and Senator
Michael Ellis called it "disgraceful that people who
are paid to be here have decided to skip town." He's
right because they're coming back to support a
marginally changed bill too little to matter. The fix
is in, worker rights are being trashed. It's
disgraceful in Wisconsin and across America.
A same day Times editorial headlined, "Gov. Walker's
Pretext," feigning worker sympathy clearly evident in
shameless concluding comments, saying:
"Keeping schools closed and blocking certain public
services is not a strategy we support and could
alienate public opinion and play into the governor's
hand."
Times management one-sidedly supports wealth and power
interests, not populist ones it disdains.
So do Wall Street Journal op-ed and editorial writers,
producing the print version of Fox News, Murdock, of
course, owning both.
On February 18, the lead editorial headlined, "Athens
in Mad Town (Mad for Madison)," saying:
Thousands of Wisconsin workers "swarmed the state
capitol and airwaves to intimidate lawmakers and
disrupt Governor Scott Walker's plan to level the
playing field between taxpayers and government
unions."
"Mr. Walker's very modest proposal would take away the
ability of most government employees to collectively
bargain for benefits," except for wages no greater
than annual CPI increases.
Saying Mr. Walker has no other choice to close his
budget gap, comments entirely omitted what's absent in
all major media reports - making corporations and
America's aristocracy pay their fair share. Nothing in
The New York Times, Washington Post, WSJ, other major
broadsheets or on corporate TV, backing monied
interests, not worker rights they disdain.
On February 18, Washington Post writers Brady Dennis
and Peter Wallsten lied headlining, "Obama joins
Wisconsin's budget battle, opposing Republican
anti-union bill," when, in fact, his rhetoric masks
support.
"The battle in the states underscores the deep
philosophical political divisions between Obama and
Republicans over how to control spending and who
should bear the costs," they said, when, in fact, they
only disagree on timing, united in supporting monied,
not populist, interests.
On February 18, Financial Times writer Hal Weitzman
also ducked real issues headlining, "Wisconsin
deadlock as Democrats flee budget vote," quoting
Republican Senate leader Scott Fitzgerald saying:
Democrats were "not showing up for work....That's not
democracy. That's not what this chamber is about."
What's not democracy, of course, is trashing worker
rights, supporting wealth and power interests only,
and mocking worker courage to confront power no matter
how daunting the challenge.
Today, working Americans face losing more of their
hard-won rights because bipartisan collusion intends
to trash them. Unless mass activism erupts, America
indeed is becoming a wasteland, a backwater on a fast
track toward tyranny and ruin, a bleak future no one
should accept.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached
at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog
site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to
cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on
the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive
Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and
Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are
archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
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