I’m Glad My Dad Was A Union Member!

Lately I’ve noticed a union busting trend by state governments in the United States. The logic behind this is that state budgets cannot afford having unions and the cost that they add. I suspect political reasons behind this as well. Extreme conservatives would like the country to swing completely to the far right! The success of such of movement would deprive the lower classes of what few rights they still have! The middle class continues to shrink and the country is becoming of of the have’s and have-not's! As the country sinks into debt and the poor become poorer it would not surprise me to see class ware fare raise its ugly head.

My Dad worked in a union shop at Mitchell's Brewery in El Paso. I am not ashamed to say that he made darn good wages. El Paso’s unemployment usually hovered between nine and ten percent. Living there, my Dad’s union scale paycheck gave my family an edge. Family members did not drop out of school to eek out a living. We were far from being rich but at least we could get a fair education and dream of having something better. My Dad’s being a union member and our having some money had something to do with it.

There is some truth to the idea that unions were a factor in jobs leaving the US. But we cannot discount that businesses went for cheap labor too! Maybe unions did get too big and powerful. And so what we are seeing now is an anti-union reaction from state governments. Soon there will be a nationwide push to get rid of unions not only in government but in the public sector as well! Denying worker the right to collective bargaining is undemocratic and totally unfair!  Without being able to band together for pay and protection from the big bosses the ‘little man’ suffers a lose of power. This is one of the few weapons that he has against the rich and powerful.

The rich now have the upper hand and through their powerful lawyers and lobbies continue to control the country. They certainly don’t need or want unions but the average Joe does! He should not be deprived of a means to try to level the playing field.

JMOHO!

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