Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Unions Have Helped Us All

History helps ... and that's the problem - too many people today enjoy the benefits of other's labor, and take things now for granted.

The story behind the miners in West Virginia, steel workers in Pgh, auto workers in Detroit (Ford, interestingly enough, understood, because he felt that well-paid workers would buy the cars they build, and he was essentially building cars for the people), and oil-field workers in OK and TX. Unions lifted millions out of poverty, gave them relief when injured, and saw to it that they could earn a living wage, buy a home, and enjoy something of the American Dream.

As some folks say, when the water rises, every boat rises, too.

If unions fail, we will return to what I see here in LA all the time - folks at $10 an hour, no benefits, no safety net, no means of protection against sexual and other forms of harassment.

Without unions, it becomes a vicious food chain, and the folks at the top, of course, rule the roost. This is not what we want for America.

Right now, the Americans who have benefited from the work of the unions think the system is trustworthy, and that owners and Wall Street are fair.

Economic systems that rely on the folks at the top end up in the same place all the time - 2% own everything, and the rest are reduced to a daily grind to put bread on the table.

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