Just read a post by John Wojcik at People’s Weekly World that highlights another of the key reasons that the current labor movement is repugnant to me. Most of the article is a standard diatribe from the Pro-Employee Free Choice Act crowd. However, John writes at the end of his post:
The labor movement, for the last three or more years, has marched, picketed, sat in, demonstrated, petitioned and engaged in major strikes from one end of the country to the other. It mobilized for the 2006 and 2008 elections on all levels, reshaped the face of Capitol Hill, changed the Congress, changed the Senate and was critical in the election of perhaps the most pro-labor administration in U.S. history.
Because of this militancy we are on the verge of seeing serious, major labor law reform in this country.
Consider the fact that “unionized” Americans account for about 12% of the population. Remember that many of those who work in unionized companies did NOT want to be in a union – but have no choice, especially in non-Right To Work states and government monopoly jobs. So, drill this down, and we could conservatively say that 1/3 of those employees did not want a union, and stand opposed to the political & policy aims of Big Labor. Then, account for the fact that a good percentage of those who are left are not activists, and their only “contribution” to the Big Labor agenda is their dues dollars.
Boil it all down, and we are seeing major sea change in labor law (and other issues such as health care & immigration) that are OPPOSED to what the majority of Americans want, but are being forced through because of the funneling of lots of money (union dues) in the hands of a few Labor Leaders (& those followers that they can rally), comprising probably less than 1% of the American population! The agenda of course, is to make it easier to collect more dues in order to sustain the political power, and lifestyle it then protects. The “life of the American worker” is so low on the radar of Big Labor leaders (despite the rhetoric) that it is sickening.
That is NOT the way a republic (or even a democracy for that matter) should work!
Caveat: I know that this is not the only reason the current administration controls the reins of power. However, this beast is growing, and if not stymied, it will continue to bloat and engage in activity ruinous to our economy.
Sorry – just had to rant today…
