The fascist purge is going to be brutal, but there is an opportunity. It won't take long for many workers who voted for Trump to find he has betrayed them as bad as the Democrats have.
I remember as a teenager reading about how many railroad workers were killed in the days of coupling the trains, and how the widows and children were left with nothing. That was one of the many reasons that workers began to seriously organize in this country. And today, the railroad owners refuse to keep up with repairs, and don't keep safety measures as they cut employees. When Biden did not take the side of the rail workers, it was obvious that he was never a so-called union man.
Ahh, Pete Seeger. Thanks for sharing. My grandparents, parents, and my generation were all strong union people. My sister and I were shocked when one of her daughters, a teacher, didn't bother to join the union. Too young to remember the struggles of her elders, she didn't awaken until she was treated really poorly in her job. In my city, it is the really young workers now leading the drives for unionization. Seems that we human beings have to learn lessons over and over again.
Yes, we do. I really think the unionization/activism is the one thing that might save us. Unfortunately, many of the unions are depolticized and don't really see the need to advocate for workers in other fields to unionize and align with other unions.
The good news might be that things will get so repressive and the economy so destroyed under Trump people will have to iunite to survive and there will be a labor uprising.
Unions in the rest of the world should come together.
I worked on an Industrial Newspaper years ago. Basically got fired because I wouldn't sleep with the Boss. He treated me despicably after this. Then he fired me. To be fair I did throw a heavy glass paper weight at him which missed!
Went to the Union immediately. Well compensated. Don't know what happened to the sleazy boss!
My Grandfather in the North of England was a Union member too.
The best vote is a vote to strike. And general strike. It’s about time they dumped Taft-Hartley legally or illegally. They dumped Glass-Steagal fast enough.
The expanding wave of layoffs can and must be fought, but it is necessary for workers to take control out of the hands of the pro-corporate UAW bureaucracy, through the expansion of the network of rank-and-file committees throughout every plant. A statement by the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees in April explained:
*If EVs require 40 percent fewer labor hours to build, then the workweek should be reduced from the exhausting 40, 50 and even 60 hours workers routinely labor to 30 hours a week, with no loss in pay. Just as wages must rise automatically with the increase in the price of consumer goods, the number of working hours must be adjusted so available work is divided among all workers with no loss in income.*
*Following the United Auto Workers’ announcement of the ratification of pro-company agreements at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis on November 20, middle-class pseudo-left organizations have rushed to shore up the credibility of the UAW apparatus and prevent an accounting of its betrayal.
The Big Three contracts have been presented almost universally as “historic” by the media, the White House and groups which falsely present themselves as “left,” including most prominently the Democratic Socialists of America. But this rosy narrative quickly proved difficult to maintain, since the UAW’s supposedly “record” agreements provoked widespread opposition among workers.
At GM, 47 percent of production workers voted to reject the deal, even according to the UAW’s questionable official tally, which included workers at Ultium and GM Subsystems who were not General Motors employees at the time of the vote.*
*The job cuts are hitting workers the day after Fain hosted Biden at a campaign event at the UAW Region 1 union headquarters in Warren, Michigan. Biden praised the UAW bureaucracy for imposing the job-cutting agreement. Outside the event, riot police with armored vehicles attacked protesters denouncing the US president for backing Israeli’s genocide in Gaza.
A worker at the Detroit plant told the WSWS that 750 supplementary workers were let go as part of the job cuts, right before they were scheduled to be rolled over to full-time status.*
I'm holding my breath that there won't be another East Palestine derailment and subsequent chemical burn soon and near my home... We don't let union members strike for safer working conditions in the US and this is what happens. The public and the workers suffer alike.
I remember as a teenager reading about how many railroad workers were killed in the days of coupling the trains, and how the widows and children were left with nothing. That was one of the many reasons that workers began to seriously organize in this country. And today, the railroad owners refuse to keep up with repairs, and don't keep safety measures as they cut employees. When Biden did not take the side of the rail workers, it was obvious that he was never a so-called union man.
Remember this song. If you don't know the history of the song check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iAIM02kv0g
Ahh, Pete Seeger. Thanks for sharing. My grandparents, parents, and my generation were all strong union people. My sister and I were shocked when one of her daughters, a teacher, didn't bother to join the union. Too young to remember the struggles of her elders, she didn't awaken until she was treated really poorly in her job. In my city, it is the really young workers now leading the drives for unionization. Seems that we human beings have to learn lessons over and over again.
Yes, we do. I really think the unionization/activism is the one thing that might save us. Unfortunately, many of the unions are depolticized and don't really see the need to advocate for workers in other fields to unionize and align with other unions.
The good news might be that things will get so repressive and the economy so destroyed under Trump people will have to iunite to survive and there will be a labor uprising.
Unions in the rest of the world should come together.
I worked on an Industrial Newspaper years ago. Basically got fired because I wouldn't sleep with the Boss. He treated me despicably after this. Then he fired me. To be fair I did throw a heavy glass paper weight at him which missed!
Went to the Union immediately. Well compensated. Don't know what happened to the sleazy boss!
My Grandfather in the North of England was a Union member too.
Trump supporters are going to be incredibly disappointed. They fell for Trump's con again.
Just like Democrats. The corporate uniparty is a con.
The best vote is a vote to strike. And general strike. It’s about time they dumped Taft-Hartley legally or illegally. They dumped Glass-Steagal fast enough.
The expanding wave of layoffs can and must be fought, but it is necessary for workers to take control out of the hands of the pro-corporate UAW bureaucracy, through the expansion of the network of rank-and-file committees throughout every plant. A statement by the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees in April explained:
*If EVs require 40 percent fewer labor hours to build, then the workweek should be reduced from the exhausting 40, 50 and even 60 hours workers routinely labor to 30 hours a week, with no loss in pay. Just as wages must rise automatically with the increase in the price of consumer goods, the number of working hours must be adjusted so available work is divided among all workers with no loss in income.*
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/12/14/ford-d14.html
*Following the United Auto Workers’ announcement of the ratification of pro-company agreements at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis on November 20, middle-class pseudo-left organizations have rushed to shore up the credibility of the UAW apparatus and prevent an accounting of its betrayal.
The Big Three contracts have been presented almost universally as “historic” by the media, the White House and groups which falsely present themselves as “left,” including most prominently the Democratic Socialists of America. But this rosy narrative quickly proved difficult to maintain, since the UAW’s supposedly “record” agreements provoked widespread opposition among workers.
At GM, 47 percent of production workers voted to reject the deal, even according to the UAW’s questionable official tally, which included workers at Ultium and GM Subsystems who were not General Motors employees at the time of the vote.*
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/12/08/left-d08.html
*Today’s Labor Unions Suck Corporate Butt*
*The job cuts are hitting workers the day after Fain hosted Biden at a campaign event at the UAW Region 1 union headquarters in Warren, Michigan. Biden praised the UAW bureaucracy for imposing the job-cutting agreement. Outside the event, riot police with armored vehicles attacked protesters denouncing the US president for backing Israeli’s genocide in Gaza.
A worker at the Detroit plant told the WSWS that 750 supplementary workers were let go as part of the job cuts, right before they were scheduled to be rolled over to full-time status.*
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/02/03/erzh-f03.html
I'm holding my breath that there won't be another East Palestine derailment and subsequent chemical burn soon and near my home... We don't let union members strike for safer working conditions in the US and this is what happens. The public and the workers suffer alike.