Labor Day. The unofficial end to the summer. A last chance to go to the swimming pool, have a pig roast, or party with family and friends. Like Memorial Day and Veteran's Day, it honors Americans, the American worker.
This day use to mean something. It was a celebration of the American worker and to some extent, the unions that helped make this country strong. Now it is just a political event. The parades we go to are filled with politicians, who in reality, don't give a damn about the American worker, but then again, neither do the unions.
I come from a family of union workers. My father and brother were both faithful members of the union. I was and still am a member of a union, having taken out a withdrawal card many years ago. All I would have to do is request my membership be reactivated and for a fee (and monthly dues) I would be a member in good standing. The unions use to be faithful to the workers, now they are an extension of the democrat party. It is very sad. It's sad because the rank and file are the ones' who suffer.
Time and time again we see the unions get behind the democrat ticket. They give money from the union, the make phone calls for the candidates, the stuff envelopes, the knock on doors and they take people to the polls to vote. When their candidate does get into office, what do they do? They raise their taxes, give their jobs away and try and take their health care.
Look at the last two democrat Presidents, Bill Clinton and BHO. Bill introduced his universal health care plan that would basically strip the unions of their health care and replace it with a lessor government run health care. BHO got behind the democrat proposal that would essentially do the same. What many of the unions fought hard for the last 60 years, would be gone. Of course the union officials don't see it that way.
Take Pennsylvania. Please. Ed Rendell the governor of the Commonwealth when he first ran for governor won on the backs of the union. Well that and a couple thousand dead Philadelphian's who voted for him. So what did "fast" Eddie do to show his appreciation to the state union workers? He gave them a contract that included no pay raises for four years and then when they did get a raise, that raise was eaten up with higher contributions to their medical benefits.
So what did the union do when Eddie ran for reelection? Did they get together and vote for Lynn Swann? Nope. The worked hard and got "Uncle Eddie" reelected! You get what you vote for.
I have a friend who has worked for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for over 30 years. He is a staunch democrat, except when it comes to governor, then he always votes for the Republican. According to him, "the Republican's always give you a better contract."
There was a time when the democrats went after the unions. Bobby Kennedy went after Jimmy Hoffa for several years. It was Bobby and the boys who got Jimmy locked away for several years. It was Nixon, a Republican who got him out.
Jimmy Hoffa in some people's eyes was a crook. In other's he was a God send. Jimmy Hoffa took care of the rank and file. He got them higher wages, better benefits, built hospitals and grew the health and welfare fund into a multi-million dollar fund. When he dipped his hand into the cookie jar and took two million dollars, the rank and file didn't care because he took care of them first.
The union officials today don't take care of the rank and file. They are more worried about promoting themselves, from Business Agent to Trustee, to and Officer of the local. They forget about where they came from, what it was like when they were rank and file members. They are too busy sucking up to the democrat candidates.
Look at the UAW. Look at the Big Three automakers. GM in 2007 sold the same amount of cars as Toyota. Toyota made several billion dollars, GM lost several billion dollars. You can't blame all of it on the union, the auto makers share their fair share of the blame, but when a company can't lay off a worker because they don't need them and they have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in wages and benefits for a workers to go and sit at a "job center' only to read the newspaper, play video games or watch movies, that is wrong. It is also what the unions until recently have demanded.
The steel industry was the same way. When the companies were "flush" the unions demanded and got $25 an hour and 16 weeks of vacation for a guy to push a broom. When times got tight, the unions would not budge and would not allow for a reduction of wages or layoffs of these broom pushers. We all knew that Americans made the best steel, but because of the union contracts, the companies were unable to compete. What we ended up with was inferior steel from Japan and China that was practically rusted before it was put on a car. Did you drive a AMC or a Ford in the 70's and 80's? Even Rusty Jones couldn't help those rust buckets. When you bought the car, you were given duct tape and bailing wire to help keep the bumpers on.
They (the leaders) stand behind the democrat party and support all of their causes. They want the minimum wage to go up because most of their contracts are tied to the minimum wage. They support illegal immigrants gaining amnesty because they will gain new members. They support universal health care, well because the democrats tell them to.
The head of the AFL-CIO is a man named John Sweeney. He is a 75 year old crotchety old man who since he became head of the AFL-CIO with a goal of adding new members, has lost members. Several of the unions that form the AFL-CIO have pulled away from the governing body because of his leadership. If you have ever heard this guy speak or read any of his writings, you would see that he is a Socialist bordering on Marxist.
In an effort to intimidate people into joining the unions, they came up with "card check." What this would do is take away the secret ballot. As it stand now, the unions are allowed by law to come into a place of work and try to organize. They talk to the workers, give them information about the union and make the case of what the union can do for the workers. After a period of time, a secret ballot is taken of all the workers. If a majority want to join the union and have the union represent them, then the union is certified and the employer has to negotiate any contract through the union. Since the unions haven't been effective in making there case and have been rejected by most workers, they want "card check" which would allow any union representative to walk up to a worker, in front of other union members and sympathizers and ask them if they want to join the union and if not why? This form of intimidation thankfully so far has been unable to get traction in congress and for the time being is dead.
The point is that unions use to be good for this country. The unions helped to build this country and use to take care of the rank and file. Many of the benefits enjoyed by all workers is a result of the blood, sweat and tears of the unions. Today the unions sadly just take care of themselves. Themselves and the democrat party.
So when you go to your Labor Day parade today and you see someone like Joe Biden who is marching in the Pittsburgh parade, just remember that your union is sadly, bought and paid for by the democrat party. It's not your father's union anymore.
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