Attacks on Organized Labor

X post in Socialist-Progressive.

http://dissidentvoice.org/2014/06/attacks-on-organized-labor/

by David Macaray / June 11th, 2014

The on-going assault on America’s labor unions comes in three basic forms: accusing unions of doing economic damage, accusing unions of being corrupt, and blaming public sector unions for gouging American taxpayers by forcing us to underwrite exorbitant pensions. While the first two are almost exclusively the product of Karl Rove-like smear tactics, the third, though wildly exaggerated, has some basis in fact.

So let’s do the third one first. Although it’s true that we taxpayers do, in fact, pay for the wages and benefits of public sector workers, this was never seen as a “problem” until the number of private sector workers who had had their wages and benefits hollowed-out by their employers reached a critical mass. Before then, no one really thought or cared much about it.

It was only when private sector workers—already whipped into a froth by anti-union propaganda—realized their crappy wages, low pensions, and poor working conditions were inferior to those of public sector workers that it became a “problem.” That and when virtually every state government in the country found itself on the verge of bankruptcy due to bad investments, and went looking for scapegoats.

This antipathy toward the private sector is relatively new. Go back to your high school days and recall when your buddy, Fred, informed his classmates that he hoped to land a job with the DMV. Didn’t most of us think he was “settling for less”? Didn’t we think that by taking a DMV job Fred was turning his back on the potential riches, challenges and glamour that came only with a private sector job—a job where hard work and talent would take you as far as you wanted to go?

FULL story at link.

David Macaray, a Los Angeles playwright and author (It’s Never Been Easy: Essays on Modern Labor), was a former union rep. He can be reached at: dmacaray@earthlink.net. Read other articles by David.
This article was posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2014 at 7:35pm and is filed under Labor, Propaganda, Unions.