Unions: All for One and One for All

You may have seen these statistics already.  They hit home the reality of what's happening to our middle class in America.  On this blog, Karla Walter, Senior Policy Analyst and David Madland, Director of the American Worker Project at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, wrote:

"The middle class is markedly stronger when workers join together in unions.  The power of unions to create prosperity for working families is well recognized: Organized labor is one of the few voices for the economic interests of the middle class in our government. Unions were key to creating and protecting the social safety net."


Not only are middle class wages decreasing, but as I've demonstrated in previous posts, wages of the rich continue to increase, creating a wider and wider income gap in our country.


The Center for American Progress Action Fund published this article.  It said, 


"The essence of what labor unions do—give workers a stronger voice so that they can get a fair share of the economic growth they help create—is and has always been important to making the economy work for all Americans. And unions only become more important as the economy worsens."


And they provided this interactive map to see what's happening in your state.


Yet with all this data showing how important unions are to all middle class workers, here was the headline from JS online yesterday:  
Unions might drop state status

And here's what it said,

"If Gov. Scott Walker's union bargaining measure becomes law and forces do-or-die recertification votes for public employee unions, some large public unions might simply skip the votes and drop their official status with the state."


I am sad today.

Here's where we are headed middle class, right down to the bottom of the barrel...without a voice.  

Fight on!

Super PACs

Back in this post, I talked about the Citizens United ruling.

Russ Feingold has started a campaign to fight back- Progressives United.  I am proud to be a member of this group.

On April 28th Russ appeared on the Colbert Nation.  Besides providing some comic relief, it also does a great job of explaining the Super PAC.

Sign the pledge against the Super PACs here.

The War on Schools

In February of this year a special issue in Labor Notes focused on the war against public education.

"A handful of conservative billionaires with enormous political and media savvy are leading an all-out war on public education and its unionized teachers. Their initiative is part of a broader attack on all public services and public employee unions. This special section on the following pages outlines the attacks and explores alternatives."

It's a great article and I encourage everyone to read it.

"It’s no coincidence that those fueling and funding school reform are millionaires, billionaires, and large corporations. To believe that their interest lies in helping children would require a suspension of logic and a denial of our history." 

You should also check out this blog post "10 Things Charter Schools Don't Want You to Know" from Modern School, a blog by a public educator in the San Francisco area.  I will adding the blog to my list on the right.

Have you seen Waiting for Superman?  Check out this post, which explain why this film is yet another example of the attack on our public school.

Two Steps Back

It takes an emotional toll, this fight we, the middle class, are fighting.  One step forward, two steps back.
Remember how just a few weeks ago, I posted this: A (Small) Victory for the Middle Class.

And today, this story broke:  Bill voiding sick leave law sent to Walker.

Yesterday the Assembly Republicans sent a bill to Walker that would void the Milwaukee ordinance requiring businesses to provide paid sick leave.  More and more we see businesses running our country.  We've heard the Republican drill:  if we treat businesses well by offering tax cuts and no regulations, then they in turn will create lots of jobs, helping us "lower" class via the trickle down effect.

But what are the results?  The CEO's get richer and the middle class gets poorer.

Want to see even more crystal clear graphics?  Then go here:  Mother Jones.

Wisconsin's Journey in Photos

This photo was taken by Lori Compas, a Wisconsin photographer from Fort Atkinson.
Check out her blog- Traveling Light- for some amazing photos of the Wisconsin protests and most recently, the walk from Whitewater to Madison by UW Whitewater faculty.

Thank you, Lori, for telling our story in photos!

If I Only Had a Heart

On the April 6th show, Rachel Maddow said, "Corporations do not have hearts.  They have profits, they have interests."  She later went on to say, "For corporations seeking profits regardless of the human cost, it is rational, it's business.  And watching out for the humans in that equation- that is what governments are for."

A 2003 article from the San Francisco Chronicle: Corporations not Human, reported on the Supreme Court case, Kasky vs Nike.  "A corporation is an artificial being -- invisible, intangible and existing only in contemplation of law. Being human must be a valid condition for protection under the First Amendment. In effect, the court ruled that there is no constitutional basis for bestowing Bill of Rights protections upon corporations."


Which seems a direct contrast to the recent Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United vs Federal Election Commission, which now allows corporations to donate as much as they want to political campaigns.


Justice John Paul Stevens dissented, saying, “In the context of election to public office, the distinction between corporate and human speakers is significant. Although they make enormous contributions to our society, corporations are not actually members of it."


What can you do?  Go to this website:  Move to Amend  Sign the petition to amend the Constitution.
Get involved in their project- here's an event in the Milwaukee area next weekend.

Columbian Unions

On April 6th the US and Columbia reached a free trade pact which will raise US exports to Columbia by more than $1 million.


The deal came, "after the Colombians agreed to offer greater protections for workers and union leaders, an area of key concern for the U.S."


"The key U.S. concerns in negotiating the Colombia pact focused on high rates of violence against Colombian labor union leaders and insufficient protections for workers' rights. Under the new agreement, the Colombian government will phase in a series of measures throughout the year aimed at increasing protections for labor.

The measures include:

— Expanding by April 22 the scope of existing protections to help union leaders protect labor activists, workers trying to join unions, and former union activists who may be threatened because of past activities.

— Reforming Colombia's criminal code by June 15 to criminalize and penalize actions or threats that could limit workers' rights, including the right to organize.

—Directing Colombia's National Police to assign 95 full-time investigators to support prosecutors handling cases involving crimes against union members by December."


So the US government fights for workers' right to organize and join a union... as long as they're in Columbia.