Six Little Words ("on the basis of union membership") -- A good read, imo

[antigop]

http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_9988069

History books teem with six-word phrases, from the comforting ("Nothing to fear but fear itself") to the inspiring ("Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall") to the embarrassing ("Read my lips: no new taxes"). But the six words "on the basis of union membership" could be more momentous than any of those. Though hardly Roosevelt's rhetoric, Reagan's bluster or Bush's clumsiness, the clause could solve America's wage crisis.

Of course, when Tom Geoghegan told me this in a Chicago park two weeks ago, I almost snarfed my coffee through my nose. Solving major social problems typically demands more than six words. But as the longtime labor lawyer and author explained his idea to me on a muggy afternoon, it started making sense.

Geoghegan reminded me that data show the more union members in an economy, the better workers' pay. The problem, he said, is that weakened labor laws are allowing companies to bully and fire union-sympathetic workers, thus driving down union membership and wages.

Enter Geoghegan's six words. If the Civil Rights Act was amended to prevent discrimination "on the basis of union membership," it would curtail corporations' anti-labor assault by making the right to join a union an official civil right.

"Hang on," I interrupted. "Joining a union isn't a civil right?"

Correct.

[rurallib]

1. K&R

I feel unionizing this country is one of the most important issues.

[deadmessengers]

2. I don't think they thought this one all the way through.

From my take, including those words in the civil rights act would be a rightwinger's wet dream, because it would make the entire country a "right to work" location. Because, if you can't discriminate in employment on the basis of union membership, you would also simultaneously lose the ability to discriminate on the basis of NON-membership. Meaning, no union shops.