Congratulations to Oklahoma Teachers!

It’s easier to squeeze the weak and the weary, it’s a human trait, sometimes done consciously and other times subconsciously. The movement to destroy the unions was a conscious effort starting during the Nixon administration with a constant drip-drip-drip for 45 years. It gained momentum in the early 80s when Reagan fired all the Air Traffic Controllers who were striking, resulting in the grounding of all commercial flights for a week or two.

HOW SOON WE FORGET

Unions, as we know them, were formed in the latter half of the 19th century to improve working conditions, and by the 70s over 30% of the nations’ workers were union members. These unions created the Middle Class which at the time allowed its employees to have adequate working conditions along with medical and retirement benefits. Then, they got “too big for their britches.”

I experienced both sides of the issue: In the sixties, I was fortunate to obtain a union job in construction during my college summers and was paid about three times the minimum wage which helped me graduate without having to borrow (no student loans).  On the other side and later, when my father-in-law and I were seeking funding for a challenging construction project, we tried to obtain loans from the unions because they were the only game in town. We met with very unsavory people; it was a shake-down. Fortunately, we passed.

(Michael Moore’s film, Capitalism: A Love Affair provides a before and after insight.)

The negative aspects of unions were greatly reduced by the-then Attorney General, Bobby Kennedy, starting in the mid-60s when he went after the corruption within some of them.

BEATING BACK UNIONS

So why do the Republicans want to squeeze people and beat back unions?

Because the people have power; organized people, have much much more power. The Democrats embraced the unions each year, thus, under a “Starve The Beast” mentality, which is to squeeze everybody, unions were high on the Republican hit list. And the Teachers Unions (NEA and others) have been supportive of Democrats in the past. Thus, teachers have been high on the list; and the more they are squeezed, the better for Republicans.

Today, the percentage of union workers has dropped from 30+% to about 6%. And what would we expect? Duh. Many or most of our people have two or more contract jobs that circumvent the full-time status. Such a system prevents organization by employees and creates a system that allows everyone to be squeezed until they break. And that’s where we are at in many sectors of our world.

  • Beginning airline pilots need second jobs.
  • Teachers need second jobs.
  • Flight attendants get paid hourly, starting when the cabin door closes and ending when it is opened.
  • Maids are being paid hourly to clean a room and the maximum time allowed is 20 minutes.
  • Immigrants often work for half to a quarter of minimum wage.
  • Etc.

“Will work for food” signs have not been familiar sightings in the last many years. And, that’s where we are going as a society. Subconsciously, that’s where we are headed. We are almost back to where we were in the 1930s during the Great Depression.

So, the challenge for the next generation is to figure out how to maintain the unity that they possess and figure out how to make an organized effort.

Rich Meyer, Blogger & Author.