I'm thinking of the people who died so I could have weekends off.

[alarimer]

The Ludlow Massacre, Haymarket, Homestead Steel, and on far too many other occasions, saw the deaths of striking workers. Workers who were trying to make conditions better for themselves. They may have lost those battles, but they won the war.
Today, we have (generally) a 40-hour workweek, benefits such as health insurance and retirement, and paid vacations. Even though we are in the process of going backwards, I think it is still important to recognize that sacrifices were made (including many, many deaths) in order for us to have those things we now take for granted.

I am also very aware that many people do not have those things, not just in the US, but around the world. Migrant farm workers, Walmart and fast food employees, and unpaid interns to name but a few.

The President said some good things in his statement today about organized labor, but he failed to mention the word "Union". It's almost as if it's a dirty word to many people these days. Mention the word union and usually you get some variation on "We don't need unions anymore" or "they're all a bunch of thugs." When I hear those things, I try to remember that people have been brainwashed by the corporate media to believe those things and that both parties are wholly captured by Wall Street, whose bottom line often depends on exploiting workers.

[gopiscrap]

1. Good for you I agree!

[niyad]

2. the ludlow massacre was the first thing I thought of when I saw the title of your post. and don't

forget the triangle shirtwaist fire (and the ilgwu strike that preceded it). thank you for posting this as a reminder of what it took to get us even the little bit we have today. you are correct, the word "union" suddenly seems to be a four-letter word, thanks to determined propaganda from our corporate overlords.

[alarimer]

4. It's quite an extensive list of union battles

Most of which resulted in very little gain (in the short term at least) for those workers.

Most people forget (or choose not to remember) what unions have done for them, because they don't belong to them and because of the bad reputation of some unions (some deserved, some not).

I don't belong either, but that's because, as a state employee, I cannot.

[bobGandolf]

26. Interesting, state employee....no union

What state are you from that doesn't allow union membership? All the states in New England have state employee unions.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

25. I thought of the anarchist Haymarket Martyrs ...

... and their last statements before being executed.

[babydollhead]

3. here is a vanzetti quote,

"If it had not been for this thing, I might have lived out my life talking at street corners to scorning men. I might have died, unmarked, unknown, a failure. Now we are not a failure. This is our career and our triumph. Never in our full life can we hope to do such work for tolerance, justice, for man's understanding of man, as now we do by accident. Our words -- our lives -- our pains -- nothing! The taking of our lives -- lives of a good shoemaker and a poor fish peddler -- all! That last moment belong to us -- that agony is our triumph." -- Bartolomeo Vanzetti, comment to a reporter before his execution (1927)"

[senseandsensibility]

5. Great post title

You got to the heart of the matter. Thank you for posting this.

[Logical]

6. Nice post! Thanks! n-t

[Iliyah]

7. Thank you!

Pres O is pro-Union and always will be. Union, Liberal, Progressive to name a few are in the eyes of corporate media thru their corporate masters are nasty, ugly, un-American words.

As usual no matter what he says it will be taken out of content or just plain lied about by these RWers who do control the present media. I can see that the Unions are getting stronger again as people are waking up slowly.

[TBF]

9. Someone who is pro-union would not be front and center

trying to break the teacher's unions.

Actions speak for themselves.

[Iliyah]

10. Not true

[TBF]

23. Playing both sides of the aisle -

and anyone who knows anything about public education in this country and is honest will admit that is what he's done. He speaks about supporting the unions but supports measures like merit pay and firing teachers which go against the traditional models. He may talk about fixing the failures of NCLB, but the myriad of standardized tests are still in play.

As I said, the actions speak louder than the words.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

28. Or advocating "free trade" agreements.

Obama is not a friend of the Labor class.

[Scuba]

8. Really? He didn't say "union"? How about "right to organize"? Anything?

If not, he doesn't represent this traditional value of the Democratic Party and I'm very disappointed (again).

[alarimer]

15. I don't think there are very many pro-union Democrats left anymore.

Clinton destroyed a lot of union jobs by signing NAFTA.

All the Democrats in leadership positions these days, including Obama, are very pro-Wall Street. After all that's who pays for his campaigns. So a little quid-pro-quo is in order.

I would guess that none of these proclamations of the last 20+ years mention unions and unionization at all. There are some pretty words about organizing and collective bargaining, but no mention of "union" at all.

The full text of the proclamation is here (with a little prior commentary):

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/09/02/1235149/-Obama-America-is-what-it-is-today-because-workers-began-to-organize

[Scuba]

17. Time for the rank-and-file to toss these so-called "leaders" to the curb.

[Curmudgeoness]

11. We so often forget how much progress the unions brought us.

Thanks for bringing that up and reminding us how important and necessary unions were and still are. We hear all the time that unions are no longer needed, that they are outdated. Well, I am seeing a slow progression back to the reasons why unions came about. We cannot expect the corporations and the money men to do the right thing----ever. History has proven that a million times over.

[DFW]

12. A weekend off? What's that?

I do get four or five a year, but that's only because I hide!

[Skittles]

24. I hear you DFW

I cannot remember the last time I worked a 40 hour week OR got weekends off

[Enthusiast]

13. Kicked and recommended. Great post!

The, "We don't need unions anymore. They're all a bunch of thugs." propaganda memes have been very effective.

But, "both parties are wholly captured by Wall Street" isn't propaganda, it's the fucking truth.

[Rebellious Republican]

14. UNION very simple word, easy to pronounce, even "W" could pronounce it!

Join your local today!

AFSCME: 75 Years of History


SOLIDARITY

[mountain grammy]

16. I missed the President's speech, but not your post. Thank you. Solidarity!

[NuclearDem]

18. That sounds dangerously seditious, citizen!

Our soldiers are the ones who gave us the 40 hour work week and weekends, not those pinko commie Soviet unions!

[awoke_in_2003]

19. Of course he won't say the word union...

that is, of course, unless his administration is going after teachers.

[BlueJazz]

20. This past week has been very hard on me. I am usually the type that "suffers fools easily"..

...but this week I've..
1. Threaten to "slap that nasty look" off of a guys face when I mentioned unions.
2. Told one Republican that "You're the fucking cause of 90% of this country's misery"
3. Said to a Woman "Just because you have 6 children is no God-Damn reason why you want to make sure every other FUCKING WOMAN is FORCED TO HAVE A CHILD THAT SHE DOES NOT WANT!!" I was screaming at her. (She had one of those "Don't Murder your Baby" signs)

Yes..I need to take a pill and calm down.
I'm letting the right-wing get to my cool....

[felix_numinous]

21. And it CAN get worse

people have been brainwashed into compliance, believing they are being good citizens, cooperating and obeying.

But just like I had to learn in my first marriage, when I stayed because I had 'taken vows for better or worse' --was this:

It takes TWO PARTIES to live up to an agreement to make it valid! As long as we are under the spell of the fairy tale that our work cannot possibly be traded with enough funds to live on, THERE IS NO DEAL--THERE IS NO CONTRACT.

See I was believing the abusive mate, that I was somehow defective-- Our national workforce's conditions are NO DIFFERENT.

And the response should be the same. Refuse to leave your homes, pay the bills, and walk away-- share resources amongst ourselves. That is the only way. Breaking the law? The laws are illegal because

>>>WE NEVER AGREED TO THEM<<<

If this sound insane, it is because you have been indoctrinated to accept insanity.

[MissDeeds]

22. Wonderful post

Thank you so much for this. I can't tell you how many times I think of the Woody Guthrie song "Sticking to the Union". It makes me proud, and humble.

[woo me with science]

29. Thank you. Beautiful post.

[font size=2]

In the US, there is basically one party - the business party. It has two factions, called Democrats and Republicans, which are somewhat different but carry out variations on the same policies. By and large, I am opposed to those policies. As is most of the population.

Noam Chomsky

[/font size]