Some years ago the American writer Jack Hitt made a clever, off-beat suggestion. He suggested that if African Americans seriously wished to defuse or neutralize the remaining iconic influence of the confederate flag (which not only is still displayed in the Deep South, but proudly hangs from South Carolina's capitol building), black rappers should co-opt it. They should make it their own.
Hitt advised rap musicians to emblazon the image of the confederate flag on their jewelry, their clothing, their posters, their record album covers -- on everything they can think of. Turn the confederate flag into a universally recognized symbol of black pride and black defiance... do that, and watch how fast that Southern gravy bib is removed from the statehouse's flag pole.
It was a clever idea. One wonders if there's any way this same sort of "reverse," in-your-face approach could be adopted by labor unions. As things stand now, many union leaders and members (along with the Democratic politicians who give them lip service) are so beaten down and demoralized, they seem almost ashamed or embarrassed by their union affiliation. They behave as if there was, in fact, some truth to the smear campaigns being waged by the Republican right.
But instead of offering mealy-mouthed, half-hearted defenses of their unions, what if these people took the offensive? What if they portrayed organized labor not only as a viable institution -- one acknowledged to have had glorious antecedents, a rich and storied history, a record of positive social change, blah, blah, blah -- but as America's last and only hope if the middle-class is to survive?
What if they resorted to some dramatic examples, such as pointing out that Sully Sullenberger, the pilot who heroically landed that jet plane on the Hudson River, was chairman of his union's safety committee, and reminding people that those 343 firefighters who died on 9-11 were all union members -- every last one of them.
More substantially, unions need to make the point that without economic leverage America's working class will soon be at the mercy of corporations (not that they already aren't). With our federal labor laws being watered down and chipped away, and organized labor regularly coming under assault, the only thing that's going to be standing between working people and the gateway to hell is the federal minimum wage, which, at $7.25 per hour, translates to $15,080 per year -- that is if you're lucky enough to work 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year.
Unions are letting the game get away from them. Organized labor is not only being systematically badgered and misrepresented in the U.S., it appears to be given short shrift in Europe as well. On February 8, PBS NewsHour presented a glowing report on Germany's astonishing economic success. Even in this uncertain and increasingly volatile global economy, Germany has managed to pull off a minor miracle. Their economy is flourishing.
As to the influence of organized labor, there's no denying that Germany's economic bonanza was largely achieved by union members. Like most Western European nations, Germany has a sizable percentage of union workers. More significantly, most of those unionized workers are employed in the country's high-tech, high-profit manufacturing sector -- the sector that is most responsible for Germany's recent success.
And unlike the U.S., German politicians don't make a career of bashing labor unions, and German talk show hosts don't make a name for themselves by demonizing national health care, equating it with "evil socialism." Indeed, Germany's health care program is considered one of the finest in the world.
So instead of giving those same old, tired, faux-patriotic stump speeches that glorify American virtues and accentuate American exceptionalism, our politicians need to adopt a broader, more internationalist view. Hopefully, we're not too stubborn to learn from other people. Our leaders must take the initiative. They must convince us to embrace Europe. They must convince us to look to Germany as a model.
David Macaray, a Los Angeles playwright and author ("It's Never Been Easy: Essays on Modern Labor"), was a former union rep. He can be reached at dmacaray@earthlink.net.
Mon, 05/12/2008 - 15:52 — Patrick Semmens
'Over at the LRC blog, a reader writes in to say how Grand Theft Auto 4, currently the best selling video game on the market, contains dialog that compares unions to the mafia. At one point the main character is told: "union's just another word for mafia."
'Ultimately the pop culture video game comparison of union bosses to mafia dons is more than mere tongue-and-cheek.
'As currently constituted, with their many compulsory unionism special privileges, some union officials run what could be compared to a classic mafia enterprise: the protection racket.
'Wikipedia defines a protection racket as follows:
an extortion scheme whereby a powerful entity or individual coerces other less powerful entities or individuals to pay protection money which allegedly serves to purchase "protection" services against various external threats.
'In the case of unions, union bosses frequently paint employers to be exploitive and then demand that workers pay money in exchange for "representation." At the same time, in forced-dues states, employees are threatened with the loss of their job if they refuse to pay for the so-called "representation," whether or not the employees want it.'
-- http://nrtw.org/es/blog/unions-just-another-word-mafia
in 1935, union officials first gained the power to compel unwilling employees and private-sector
employers into monopoly bargaining contracts and forced unionism arrangements. To this day,
that draconian law (though supplemented with a number of other government-granted privileges
and immunities) is the root of union power and abuse.
'Big Labor’s government-granted power – especially the power to get employees fired
from their jobs for refusal to pay union dues – enables union bosses to shake down the very
workers they claim to be representing for political cash to advance Big Labor’s political and
ideological agenda, an agenda frequently offensive to rank-and-file workers. For example, a
recent Zogby poll revealed that more than 55 percent of union members support Bush’s tax cut
plan even though the AFL-CIO and its affiliate unions are going all out to defeat it.'
-- http://www.nrtw.org/media/GovernmentRegulation2.pdf
'IBEW continues fight despite lower profile
By David Rogers Staff writer
'... In response to the union's tactics, local businessman Michael Roy and others formed Citizens in Support of Anna Jaques Hospital last summer. The group has staged numerous counterprotests, including marching in the city's annual Yankee Homecoming Parade and standing next to union members holding pro-hospital signs.
'Yesterday, Roy called the reduced presence of union members a "wonderful lack of appearance on their part," but he added that he has seen them periodically throughout the winter.
'"I've had my fingers crossed that they've said, 'Enough's enough,'" Roy said.
'Like IBEW Local 103, Citizens in Support of Anna Jaques Hospital has tamped down its efforts, as well. But Roy said should the union decide to ramp back up, his group would follow suit.
'"We'll have to assess week by week and see what happens," Roy said.
'Deborah Chiaravalloti, vice president of public relations and marketing for Anna Jaques, said she hasn't seen the union in front of the hospital for weeks.
'"Honestly, we don't pay attention to them. We have a lot of things on our plate, very important things," Chiaravalloti said.'
-- http://www.newburyportnews.com/opinion/x1517686041/Disgusted-by-unions-arrogance-at-AJH
Author: Diane Barnes
'EASTPOINTE. "We will overturn this attack on Eastpointe taxpayers, businesses and working people," said resident and community activist Diane Barnes in announcing an effort to force the city council to get voter approval for its new "Living Wage" ordinance.
'Ordinance #901 was adopted unanimously by the Eastpointe city council on April 3 -- before an audience intentionally packed with union members, according to Barnes. "This is a transparent attempt to artificially inflate the wage scale for unions," she observed, "at the expense of young people and the working poor who will be forced into the unemployment lines simply because their skills cannot command the $11-per-hour mandated. The unions are basically trying to give themselves a raise by legally eliminating the competition."
'"It will devastate local businesses," added Doug Pohl owner of the Grand Riviera Restaurant and a member of the Eastpointe Chamber of Commerce, noting the already increasing number of boarded up buildings and vacant retail space in the city. "And," he added, "it will raise the cost of city services to taxpayers when contractors have to raise their rates to cover the higher labor costs. And all of this," he concluded, "with absolutely no reason to believe the people who benefit will even be residents of our city!"...'
-- http://www.mi.lp.org/Lists/PressReleases/DispForm.aspx?ID=21
Poor man got slammed & run out of court despite the fact it was all illegally done & against the Constitution. He took a stand against apparent criminal employer actions & lost his job & career, lost his new car to repo, and has been living in a tent for over 3 years! That's messed up, an dyet nobody seems to do nothin - not big labor, not the courts, not the politicians. There's even a letter from one of the politicians crying stupidly about it being nothing he can do. They can all do something, instead of acting like they care about nobody but themselves.