Forgotten History: When Unions go Bust we all Do!

"Busting unions" gave us the 1929 Depression!!!!!!!!!!???? Wow. Who woulda thunk it. Nah.

I am really lost when it comes to unions and how and why they became demonized????
I know that Wal-Mart crushed the Retailer's Union, because they gave so many other stores such unabashed lowering of prices, it eventually hurt them and their union's ability to be for their worker's. I have been researching a group called "Wal-Mart Watch" and they have been working to "get" Wal-Mart to be a more responsible employer....but, Wal-Mart has mamged to dodge a real showdown in the courts. When sued by employees in class action suits, they just pay and pay, rather than go to court. To this day, even though they have been sued for NOT paying overtime wages, they are still flying in the face of the law. My husband works there, and still if you are asked to work over time, you are not paid over time..you are told to use "comp time" period!!. If we lived in another area, where jobs were a bit more plentiful, he wouldn't have to work for this company. Imagine trying to have their so-called healthcare....deductible's are $2,000 and many who work at Wal-Mart cannot afford it, so the States allow Wal-Mart employees to get medicaid and that means, the tax payer's are helping Wal-Mart fly in the face of doing the correct things for their employees. So, we, the taxpayer's help Wal-Mart to forego any REAL provision for healtcare!! The stores should be named "China Mart", very few of their products are made in America and no one seems to have the courage to challenge this retailer, because they are the biggest retailer in the world!!! However, when their stores in Germany were going to allow union's for their empoyee's, the Big Gun's flew to Germany to tell them they could not do that....and the German's told Wal-Mart, "bye bye," and dismantled Wal-Mart stores in Germany! Why can't the U.S. stand up to this "too big to fail" organization????
It is getting very scary with these Republican governor's who are rewriting the law, and no one seems willing to stand up to them, even though there are so many protest's going on all over the U.S.!!!! Now, they want to arrest the Democrat's that left Wisconsin...HELLO!!!!! What will be their next bag of trick's???? I say, somehow, someway, we need to end up covering the White House lawn!!! I may not have a lot of disposable income, but if as American's we decided to go to D.C. enmasse, I would find a way to be there!!

People need to read The Grapes Of Wrath to see where Unions came from. Maybe then they might understand the need for organized labor before they are living the need for it.

Remember - unions brought us the weekend and the five-day work week. These attacks are so dangerous to our country's future competitiveness and ability to create opportunities for young people.

Union representation and collective bargaining has lead to a huge decrease in workplace related injuries and deaths. Huge advances in working conditions have been made. This is only happened because people got organised and made it happen!

Building roads is not easy work. It may be very easy to drive a car on a road, but building one takes a lot of effort, often in hot and uncomfortable conditions.

Once again, our man Figg ROCKS IT! FIGG FOR CONGRESS!

Have you checked out Russ Feingold's new blog yet?

http://agenda.progressivesunited.org/forums/105241-help-set-the-progressives-uni...

Loss of the middle class or having no middle class at all leads to one of two things: anarchy or oligarchic dictatorship. Real wealth in America did not happen until the middle class became a reality. A middle class that could afford to by the products it made. When Germany, one of the most prosperous countries in Europe collapsed after WWI and the middle class was wiped out, what was left was anarchy, then dictatorship. Again, without a middle class to provide stability, to make an economy move, a country will fail. The biggest problems with Central and South America is the lack of a strong and stable middle class. In Northern Mexico, there are the poor and the very poor. As we have seen, anarchy has broken out as that part of the country is falling prey to drug lords,

What made the middle class in this country was the unions; unions fighting to workers rights to pay, benefits, safe work environments, and time off to enjoy the goods they could afford to buy. It is going to take a lot to get all of America to understand that the greed of the wealthy and the corporations have lied about unions and what they have done for this country. Unions helped to share the wealth that the middle class created with THIER productivity. Without unions, Americans make less, corporations make more profits by shifting jobs overseas to make products that Americans will not be able to afford, and the wealthy just get wealthier.

Unless we codify worker's rights in the Constitution (not likely to happen), unions will always be necessary.

A unionized public employee, a tea party activist and a CEO are sitting at a table with a plate of a dozen cookies in the middle of it. The CEO takes 11 of the cookies, turns to the tea partier and says, "Watch out for that union guy... he wants a piece of your cookie!

Walker just wants to do what Coolidge and Reagan did while answering to his billionaire corporate overlords. If he bent over any farther for them, his head would be totally up his ass. It's almost there already. I love how these right wing "fiscal" conservatives don't mind all of this money getting funneled to the already uber rich. Their supposed logic and reasoning is a proven farce but they keep singing to the choir and enough of the working class buy into it, too.

Excellent post !

Nice work posting this one. History clearly shows that when all the wealth has risen to the terminally obese, society at large collapses.

I think I'll do more Forgotten history and we can all hold class here for free every day to fill the vacuum created by lack of real education or the ability to have it these days lets educate ourselves like we've been doing but I'm thinking we all need some REAL history no more PC shit here's the low down they cut funding from education for one reason they make crappy public schools and leaded them down with boards regulations and tests because KNOWLEDGE is POWER and it can't be taken away like property (thy hate that) and they know its power how do you think they enjoy their descendant's inheritance and continue to reap from harm then even Now...? because knowledge is POWER..and to give power to the people you must first educate them just like Che' did join me again tomorrow for another episode of FORGOTTEN HISTORY!(said in a loud echo-ey voice that fades off...wink)

When Unions go Bust we all Do!

So, you mean I'm suddenly going to grow my own set of.............................

( someone whispers in my ear psppssshshssps..........)

Oh, you mean not have any money?

Well, that's very different. Never mind.

Goodnight.

(I miss Emily Litella. Gilda, we're still thinking of you.)

Many non-union workers know the luxuries they do have are do to unions. Where would we be now, had the unions not stood on picket lines, putting fear into owners of non-union companies, forcing them to make changes too?

Sure, they want to see unions gone. Workers rights? Look around, they don't want any workers to have rights. All they want is more, more, more! The have's and have mores! The Republican base!

The powerds that be DO not want you to know this did you know he wore underpants and cowboy hat ,jumped on a mechanical horse everyday no joke Coolidge was insane(remind you of G.W.)? and a runup to the Depression