Post by jgaffney on Jun 28, 2011 23:47:56 GMT -5
I get the SF Chron on Sunday only. I don't have time to read it the rest of the week, and I enjoy combing through the Travel and Food sections after breakfast. I always enjoy reading Dr. Robert Reich's column in the Insight section because he reminds me what an unrepentant liberal sounds like. This Sunday's column is a classic example.
GOP war on workers' rights threatens middle class
The battle has resumed in Wisconsin. The state Supreme Court has allowed Gov. Scott Walker to strip bargaining rights from state workers.
Meanwhile, legislators in New Hampshire and officials in Missouri are attacking private unions, seeking to make the states so-called "open shop," where workers can get all the benefits of being union members without paying union dues. Needless to say this ploy undermines the capacity of unions to do much of anything. Other Republican governors and legislatures are following suit.
Republicans in Congress are taking aim at the National Labor Relations Board, which is proposing relatively minor rules changes allowing workers to vote on whether to unionize soon after a union has been proposed, rather than allowing employers to delay the vote for years. Many employers have used the delaying tactics to retaliate against workers who try to organize, and intimidate others into rejecting a union.
This war on workers' rights is an assault on the middle class, and it is undermining the American economy.
First of all, any relationship that Dr. Reich has with a middle class worker is when he gets his lawn mowed.
Second, the organized labor rights in Wisconsin are now aligned with federal law. Dr. Reich doesn't mention that the unions in Wisconsin had a pretty sweet deal under previous Democrat governors, so any retreat from that is "an assault on the middle class."
Third, workers in "open shop", or "right to work", states enjoy all of the benefits of union workers without paying union dues because the unions have been successful in codifying most of their demands into federal labor laws. The fact that someone earns overtime is not a result of being in a union, but a result of previous actions by unions. Dr. Reich's complaint is that, in today's modern world, unions are becoming more and more irrelavant, which poses a direct threat to a core Democrat constituency - and a reliable source of campaign funds for Democrat candidates.
Fourth, the "relatively minor rules changes allowing workers to vote on whether to unionize" refers to the "card check" initiative that organized labor was unsuccessful in getting through a Democrat Congress, so they are now taking the backdoor route of regulation by the National Labor Relations Board. The motto of the liberals seems to be, "If you can't legislate, regulate or adjudicate."
Dr. Reich goes on to try to draw a causative link between the drop in union membership and a stagnation of wages. In fact, many workers, with the exception of the public sector, no longer see the need for union membership since the unions were successful in getting most of their demands codified into federal labor law. The stagnation of wages has more to do with the shift in America's economy from an industrial base to a knowledge base, leaving many under-educated workers behind.
It never ceases to amaze me that an aloof liberal professor like Dr. Reich can claim solidarity with a middle class union member.
GOP war on workers' rights threatens middle class
The battle has resumed in Wisconsin. The state Supreme Court has allowed Gov. Scott Walker to strip bargaining rights from state workers.
Meanwhile, legislators in New Hampshire and officials in Missouri are attacking private unions, seeking to make the states so-called "open shop," where workers can get all the benefits of being union members without paying union dues. Needless to say this ploy undermines the capacity of unions to do much of anything. Other Republican governors and legislatures are following suit.
Republicans in Congress are taking aim at the National Labor Relations Board, which is proposing relatively minor rules changes allowing workers to vote on whether to unionize soon after a union has been proposed, rather than allowing employers to delay the vote for years. Many employers have used the delaying tactics to retaliate against workers who try to organize, and intimidate others into rejecting a union.
This war on workers' rights is an assault on the middle class, and it is undermining the American economy.
First of all, any relationship that Dr. Reich has with a middle class worker is when he gets his lawn mowed.
Second, the organized labor rights in Wisconsin are now aligned with federal law. Dr. Reich doesn't mention that the unions in Wisconsin had a pretty sweet deal under previous Democrat governors, so any retreat from that is "an assault on the middle class."
Third, workers in "open shop", or "right to work", states enjoy all of the benefits of union workers without paying union dues because the unions have been successful in codifying most of their demands into federal labor laws. The fact that someone earns overtime is not a result of being in a union, but a result of previous actions by unions. Dr. Reich's complaint is that, in today's modern world, unions are becoming more and more irrelavant, which poses a direct threat to a core Democrat constituency - and a reliable source of campaign funds for Democrat candidates.
Fourth, the "relatively minor rules changes allowing workers to vote on whether to unionize" refers to the "card check" initiative that organized labor was unsuccessful in getting through a Democrat Congress, so they are now taking the backdoor route of regulation by the National Labor Relations Board. The motto of the liberals seems to be, "If you can't legislate, regulate or adjudicate."
Dr. Reich goes on to try to draw a causative link between the drop in union membership and a stagnation of wages. In fact, many workers, with the exception of the public sector, no longer see the need for union membership since the unions were successful in getting most of their demands codified into federal labor law. The stagnation of wages has more to do with the shift in America's economy from an industrial base to a knowledge base, leaving many under-educated workers behind.
It never ceases to amaze me that an aloof liberal professor like Dr. Reich can claim solidarity with a middle class union member.
