Workers are in a sorry state. The government killed the National Labor Relations Board as an enforcer of the rights of labor. Then labor unions have been destroyed by corporations. Wages went down, down, down. Many jobs flew overseas. Today workers are taking the brunt of the recession.
All this started with the Republican saint called Ronald Reagan. In 1981 the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) started a strike for higher wages and other benefits. President Reagan
immediately announced that the strikers should return to work within 48 hours or face termination.
And terminated they were.
Reagan showed the way and Congress followed with punitive worker legislation. The field was open for corporations to follow the advice of "consultants" in reducing the rights of workers. And they did.
Contrast this "conservative" action with what Obama did Sunday in Chicago. A few hundred union workers staged a sit-down strike at the Republic Windows and Doors plant in order to obtain severance and vacation pay. Here is what President-elect Obama said:
When it comes to the situation here in Chicago with the workers who are asking for their benefits and payments they have earned, I think they are absolutely right. What’s happening to them is reflective of what’s happening across this economy...I think that these workers, if they have earned their benefits and their pay, then these companies need to follow through on those commitments.
Obama came out clearly in support of a union. Furthermore, he demonstrated his realization that this situation is "reflective of what's happening across this economy." He implied that he will fight to restore the rights of workers.
Liberals need not worry about Obama. Obama is dedicated, not to the elite, but to restoring the rights of workers and other ordinary folks. No more pandering to the rich. The middle class will be Obama's primary concern.
Comment here.
