United Farm Workers Flag
There is a movement in America by conservative groups to demonize unions as bad for the country because unions are bad for corporations. Anyone with a pulse knows Republicans are in opposition to anything that threatens the power of corporations, and conservatives protect corporate America at any cost.
Recently, a Fox News commentator blamed unions for the auto industry’s financial problems. They also blamed oil prices and Japanese imports as the reason GM and Chrysler were near bankruptcy. However, that argument falls way short of credibility when one considers that there are three major car makers in America and only two needed a bailout.
Blaming unions, oil prices, and Japanese imports is invalid because Ford Motor Company survived the recession without a government bailout, and they use the exact same union as GM and Chrysler, pay the same oil prices, and have the same competition from Japanese auto-makers. Using unions as a scapegoat is a tired argument that is absurd.
A conservative pundit commented on Meg Whitman’s current immigration controversy by claiming Whitman hired an undocumented housekeeper because union’s wages are too high. It’s typical of conservatives to lie and fabricate stories to cover their lies, but blaming unions for Whitman’s undocumented worker problem is going too far. For all the bad press unions receive these days, it is worth reminding people that most of the working conditions and benefits workers enjoy are a direct result of unions.
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One has to wonder if conservatives enjoy weekends off, lunch breaks, and safe working conditions. Without unions, corporations would force employees to work 20 hour days for whatever wage the corporations could get away with, and if workers lived in poverty, so be it. After WWII, the prosperity America enjoyed was because unions aided workers with living wages and bargaining power. With higher wages came more home ownership, tax revenue, and buying power. Union wages also helped build the middle class in America. When conservatives demonize unions, it is to protect corporations, and in effect, destroy the middle class.
Conservatives have fought to prevent union organization at corporate giants like Wal-Mart to keep wages low so they can make more profits and abuse their workforce. Wal-Mart employees in Europe are represented by unions, and workers enjoy paid sick leave, living wages, 4-6 weeks of vacation, and retirement plans that make the golden years tolerable. European workers do not understand why their “brothers and sisters” in America cannot have union representation.
Demonizing and breaking unions is not new, and Ronald Reagan was the worst offender. The mining industry’s deadly accidents occur at companies that are not represented by unions, and the West Virginia mine explosion is an example of Reagan’s union-busting results. The only benefactor of non-union sites are corporations; corporations do not share their obscene profits with employees, and they prevent employees from refusing to work in hazardous conditions. Corporate protection at the expense of worker safety is endemic of conservative’s ideology that corporations must be protected at any cost. Demonizing unions is just another way conservatives give corporations power to control America. Union representation is one of the last roadblocks to complete corporate takeover in America, and denying union representation is a conservative tactic to destroy the middle class in America. I
t is not new for conservatives to protect corporations at the expense of workers, and propaganda that unions are evil is a weapon that Republicans are ramping up again because of the sluggish economy. People who do not enjoy union representation would not oppose unions if they didn’t fear losing their jobs, and given the choice with a secret ballot, most would choose to be in a union. But fear mongers and corporate shills (Republicans) know they can fool ignorant folks with lies and threats of losing their poverty-level jobs for attempting to join or organize a union. At some point, America will become a corporation, and 98% of Americans will live in poverty because Republicans are hell-bent on destroying the middle class.
Tax breaks for moving jobs out of the country, no corporate taxes, and deregulation does nothing to benefit workers and only makes sure corporations continue raping America. America is becoming a second rate country now, and as we fall behind the rest of the industrialized world, corporations are thriving. There is no doubt that corporate control of the government is here now.
Don’t believe it? The Supreme Court’s decision to give person status to corporations is one of the final nails in America’s coffin. Demonizing and disbanding unions may well be the final nail, and the blame lies with ignorant jealous people for believing lying Republican rapists. It is sad that the one means of building the middle class in America is being portrayed as evil and bad for America. Republicans and their conservative ideology dictates that corporations are America. Republicans wrap their corporatist mindset in the flag, demonize unions as communist, and keep the workforce in poverty to protect corporations. Unions are the last defense for American workers, and Republicans have mounted an all-out attack on unions, and subsequently, American workers.
Audio engineer and instructor for SAE. Writes op/ed commentary supporting Secular Humanist causes, and exposing suppression of women, the poor, and minorities. An advocate for freedom of religion and particularly, freedom of NO religion.
Born in the South, raised in the Mid-West and California for a well-rounded view of America; it doesn’t look good.
Former minister, lifelong musician, Mahayana Zen-Buddhist.
