No I am not talking about some blue eyed, blond dude from the Middle East…..I will be giving my observations on the whole situation in Wisconsin and its after math…..
By now everyone that has an interest in this country should be aware of the situation in Wisconsin, as well as other states that are industrialized (though not much industry remains)……workers rights are involved, whether you are a member of a union or not, it will impact on your working life, somewhere do the road….
I see the possibility of four scenarios that could play out in the US and effect all of us in the long run….
Scenario #1–If Wisconsin’s governor (who looks like a weasel) is successful in his attack on the unions and collective bargaining, then it will steam roll through the rust belt through states that have GOP govs and legislatures…yes, some of the other states have backed off their stances on this, but it is a prudent political decision, not that think it is a bad idea…they will see that unions have been weaken and they will go for the jugular….
Scenario #2–Let us say that all challenges to the unions bills are successful….then the American worker will see wages start in a downward spiral and with that the Middle Class will get smaller and smaller and eventually there will be two classes in our society…you will be either rich or in poverty….
Scenario #3–With the unions gone…the GOP will be in the drivers seat almost everywhere….we will have a one party control of the government…..with union support we have remained basically a two party system….without union support the Dem Party will become a minor party kinda like the Green Party in the US….all decisions will be made in favor of corporations and their interests….e poor will suffer immensely…..
Scenario #4–If all the predictions come into being then I see a return of the situation we had a century ago……there will be a new labor movement…and this time it will be organized around industries and not trades…..it could be as bloody and violent as the original, a hundred years ago …….
OK, hear that? What is that chomping and snapping sound? That is your loss of rights snapping at your butt….Americans need to recover their huevos or grow a pair and take on these self-serving highly manipulated and paid for fools that we have put our trust in for so many decades….they are liars and cheats and thieves…and yet we allow them to continue preying on the middle class and we reward them with even more chances to continue……one day we will wake up and find that most of America is in the poor house, with NO one caring…….
To be honest (yes, I am capable of that) as an aging radical, deep in my soul I yearn for the days of protests and radicalism…the good old days of the 60’s and 70’s….you know…those years when the American people actually had principles and ideals….we did not hide behind the rantings of morons, we took to the streets and the lot…….a return to my days of working on a plan that was larger than myself….so much larger…the days, right or wrong, when it felt good to be an American politico….those days are gone and I want them back!
I don’t quite see how the loss of collective bargaining equates to the loss of the unions – the end of them sticking their noses into things that don’t concern those most affected by their actions perhaps. Maybe you’re right, I just think union leaders and their policies are JUST as bad as national politicians and all the sh*t we get dumped on us by THEM.
NONE of this is about the workers – it’s about political games and it stinks at ALL levels!
I can agree with you on some points….but to basically eliminate the bargaining tool could kill the unions by dwindling membership…this will kill any benefits that the worker could get…..it could any chance of an upward move by people…income will be stagnant, because corporations will pay as little as they have to…….look for an assault on the minimum wage to come if any of this is successful……
Sorry – I don’t believe it. The demise of often irrational collective bargaining has done nothing to reduce the effectiveness of unions in the UK to represent the true interests of their members. It just means that a company that is paying its workers well cannot become involved in a dispute with another firm that is not. Not that many unions DO represent the best interests of their members in the UK, but they at least COULD!
These days, collective bargaining in the sense that I understand it is really only applied to public employees and I don’t think it’s EVER been advantageous to the workers – in fact it has been more of benefit to the employers in such industries.
I repeat – IMO these union bosses are simply empire building most of the time – just like the petty little dictators they are…
It’s not that I support the other side either, but I want to know when we are going to get back to looking after the REAL interests of company employees (and survival of the employer is ALSO generally in their interests too). When are we going to STOP playing politics all round and start being grown up?
Look at it like this, many people get all excited when a company has made a million dollars profit and they all want a slice of the cake – BUT, if it took an investment of (for instance) three or four BILLION dollars, then a mere million is small change and hardly worth the effort involved, so the company will probably fold… workers are often greedy bastards too!
We cannot agree over the bosses thing….for I agree…I am still a unionist but not a trade unionist….to answer your question…we will NEVER get back to what is important to the employees……and to defend the gains by workers….collective bargaining has Not, I repeat, has Not created the deficits that so many claim it has…..in fact Mississippi does NOT allow collective bargaining and they are in the same shape if not a bit worse than Wisconsin……we can blame the bosses for everything, on that I will agree….but I refuse to blame a worker for his/her benefits…..
I will be discussing councilism in the near future and look forward to your input…..
Like I said …the sleeping radical is hoping that the guy in Wisconsin succeeds…..maybe then American workers will look for a better way……but I am NOT holding my breath
The workers are not the problem and rarely have been – nor has their reasonable rights been any difficulty – the ONLY problem with labour is the power mad union managements that pretend to represent them.
The deficit thing is just so much BS – a diversion, or an excuse – it always was and it still is. The cause of the deficit is too many people doing too little work, or unnecessary work – and THAT is from the VERY TOP downwards. But, when it comes to cuts, they almost ALWAYS get rid of the workers who actually do something useful and keep the wasters, the bureaucrats and the empire builders – but that all has very little that I can see to do with collective bargaining or the unions – EXCEPT that they try to keep people in jobs that WE can’t afford to pay for.
NONE of these people on either side understands the meaning of the word efficient, neither do they want to – and THAT is the real problem.
I have always distrusted union bosses…..that is why in my younger years I was an organizer for the IWW……and is why I have always favored the council-ist way of doing things….
By the way did you see my tweet on schools?
http://t.co/h3WJT1Y.