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reformist2

(9,841 posts)
Sat Aug 31, 2013, 09:05 AM Aug 2013

Helping other professions (esp. white collar ones) to unionize will increase support for unions.

I think a big reason existing unions get so little support from the public nowadays is jealousy/envy - they don't like seeing unionized workers getting things they don't or can't get.

In a way, I don't blame them. It isn't fair. All workers deserve decent pay, health benefits, pensions.

But just as it's not reasonable for them to want to tear down existing unions, it's also not reasonable for unions to sit idly by and watch other workers be ground into the dirt - unions have to do more outreach, and expand the base of support by encouraging other professions to unionize. Retail workers, grocery store workers, accountants, computer programmers, engineers, even lawyers.

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Helping other professions (esp. white collar ones) to unionize will increase support for unions. (Original Post) reformist2 Aug 2013 OP
Unions don't sit idly by and watch workers get grounded. They make huge pushes to JaneyVee Aug 2013 #1
I've Posted This Before - It's Time For A New Strategy For Workers In General...... global1 Aug 2013 #2
An excellent post! CrispyQ Aug 2013 #4
I'm Not Up On Social Networking And Wouldn't Mind If Someone Helped And Put Up Those Pages.... global1 Aug 2013 #5
Check Out Todays Post By Scuba On The AFL-CIO global1 Sep 2013 #6
Thanks! CrispyQ Sep 2013 #7
Union workers don't just "get". Skeeter Barnes Aug 2013 #3
 

JaneyVee

(19,877 posts)
1. Unions don't sit idly by and watch workers get grounded. They make huge pushes to
Sat Aug 31, 2013, 09:25 AM
Aug 2013

Unionize and organize all aspects of labor, 24/7 365. The problem is they often get beaten back by corporations threatening their workers who dare to unionize.

global1

(25,166 posts)
2. I've Posted This Before - It's Time For A New Strategy For Workers In General......
Sat Aug 31, 2013, 10:15 AM
Aug 2013

The time is right for a "National Workers Association.

Given the fact that unions in the U.S. are taking hits and union membership is down and the power of unions has been diminished over the years since the Reagan presidency - I'm thinking that we need to look at the plight of the worker in the United States from a different perspective.

Right-to-work laws have contributed to the decreasing role of unions in the U.S. According to Wikipedia a right-to-work law is a statute in the United States of America that prohibits union security agreements, or agreements between labor unions and employers that govern the extent to which an established union can require employees' membership, payment of union dues, or fees as a condition of employment, either before or after hiring.

"Right-to-work" laws do not, as the short phrase might suggest, aim to provide a general guarantee of employment to people seeking work, but rather are a government regulation of the contractual agreements between employers and labor unions that prevents them from excluding non-union workers.

Because right-to-work laws have impacted the worker and workers rights, wages and unions in the U.S. then it seems to me that we have to come up with a different and new way of promoting workers rights in the U.S. I'm thinking that we need to model a workers rights organization after the National Rifle Association model. The NRA has become a formidable lobbying group for gun owners and proponents of gun rights. The NRA has done this with a membership of 4.3 million. With the population of the U.S. at approximately 312.8 million people this means the NRA membership is approximately 1.37% of the total population of the United States.

Note: This post is not about gun control nor does it have anything to do with the Newtown tragedy or gun rights. This post is about 'workers rights'. Please don't make this a post about gun control - I simply am using the NRA as an example of an effective organization.

According to Wikipedia in June 2009 there were 306, 000, 000 people living in the United States of which there were about 155,000,000 people that are employed. This means that approximate 51% of the U.S. population would be classified as workers.

If we were able to form an organization of workers where workers would pay a membership fee to join - just like the NRA - and if we were able to convince about 26% of the work force to join - an organization of workers could have a membership of 40,000,000 people compared to 4,300,000 million members of the NRA or approximately a 10 fold increase over the number of members in the NRA. If the NRA has been able to become a formidable lobbying force in this country with 4.3 million members - just think what a National Workers Association could become with 40 million members.

Every worker (professions included) or potential worker would be eligible to become a member of the NWA. Membership dues could be nominal at $35.00 per year per worker. That would net such an organization $1.4 billion dollars. Just think of the power that this amount of money would bring to lobbying for workers and promoting workers rights to combat the push back we as workers are getting from the corporations that are running this country.

Now what would this organization be called and what would it stand for. Here is my first attempt at trying to describe such and organization of workers:

Note: consider this a work in process.

"The National Workers Association of America (NWA) would be organized as an American non-profit 501(c)(4) lobbying group that advocates for the protection of working people in the United States, and the promotion of workers rights including the right to work; free choice of employment; just and favorable conditions of work and unemployment protection. The NWA would support the right to equal treatment, regardless of gender, origin and appearance, religion, sexual orientation. Equal pay for equal work; just and favorable remuneration ensuring the worker and his/her family an existence worthy of human dignity and the right to rest and leisure, with reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

The NWA could have an education component and sponsor training courses in career building, skills training, resume composition, resume posting, interviewing skills and provide assistance with short term vocational training, supportive services to obtain GED placement, vocational rehabilitation. The NWA could provide members with a job registry including job search advice. The NWA would make available salary surveys/advice, human resource and unemployment assistance. It would also be a clearing house for programs that would provide workers career counseling and retraining for new careers. "

Again - looking at the NRA as an example of an effective organization - the NWA could have state and local chapters. It could initially be organized around current unions and they could immediately become the core of such an organization. The NWA could have local, state and national meetings. The NWA could have a monthly journal and newsletter and of course a website - complete with all the social networking tools that are available (i.e., Twitter, Facebook, etc). There could be specialty sections in the NWA that align around groups of workers (i.e., hotel workers; restaurant workers; plumbers; electricians; truckers; etc) in order to give all workers a voice.

The point being is that we as workers need someone to go to bat for us and we need to have the lobbying muscle to compete with the corporations. With the formation of an NWA - we would be going to bat for ourselves.

I'm tired of all the strong rhetoric that goes on before an election and then the 'bait and switch' weaseling that goes on after pols are elected. It's time that we organize and have and apply leverage in order to protect our interests. I'm thinking that our elected officials would take heed and listen to such an organization with such a voice.

I'm throwing this idea out there as I have a number of times. I'm thinking by repeatedly putting this out that maybe the idea would catch on. I'm looking for some constructive criticism in the formation of such an entity. It seems to me that we can do anything that we set our mind to and a National Workers Association would go a long way in giving the common worker in the U.S. to prevent any additional erosion of "Jobs In America".

What do my fellow DU'ers out there think about this?

Here's a link to the responses I got the first time I posted this idea: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022032941

CrispyQ

(36,221 posts)
4. An excellent post!
Sat Aug 31, 2013, 12:43 PM
Aug 2013

Well thought out ideas. This is what we need! I would add a political component too & try to create a third party. Maybe that's what you meant when you said we have to go to bat for ourselves. Labor has been diminished so badly since Reagan. At one point, labor was a valued part of business, now it's just an expense on a spreadsheet. It's part of our moral decline as a nation - we value money more than people.

Have you considered starting a Facebook page & setting up a Twitter account? Since you mention unions as part of the core of the organization, have you talked with union members? There a huge amount of education involved. Anyone born after 1979 has only ever heard that unions are bad. One DUer posted, fairly recently, that his niece (?) who graduated from HS this year, does not know about unions. She was taught that the 'entrepreneurial spirit' is responsible for any benefits that labor has today. That doesn't even make sense, but they are re-writing history & the labor movement didn't happen in their version.

global1

(25,166 posts)
5. I'm Not Up On Social Networking And Wouldn't Mind If Someone Helped And Put Up Those Pages....
Sat Aug 31, 2013, 12:52 PM
Aug 2013

also - I'm thinking that Ed Schultz should somehow be sent this thread. He always is very pro union and worker. Perhaps if he was flagged on an idea like this - it could blossom.

I have not talked to any union members - as I really don't know any. Getting harder and harder to find these days.

Thanks for your encouragement on this. I'm glad others see the value.

CrispyQ

(36,221 posts)
7. Thanks!
Sat Sep 7, 2013, 11:06 AM
Sep 2013

I watched a quick clip of Trumka yesterday & was impressed. It was from a speech a while back.


I will check it out.

Skeeter Barnes

(994 posts)
3. Union workers don't just "get".
Sat Aug 31, 2013, 10:45 AM
Aug 2013

They fight for it. Many of them risked everything and sacrificed for months and even years on strike fighting for a good contract. Some of their Brothers and Sisters that came before them even died. There is not a single hard won provision in their contracts that is "unfair" for them to have. They did what it took to earn it through solidarity and collective bargaining.

As for them "sitting idly by", that's just not true. The UAW has held votes twice at the Nissan plant in Smyrna, TN and those bootlickers working there voted it down twice. They are in the middle of a big organizing push at the VW plant in Chattanooga and other plants in Mississippi as well. It's only been five years since the Teamsters organized Overnite, now UPS Freight, adding thousands to their membership. Some of the service industry Unions have gained a notable increase in membership by organizing immigrants out in CA.

Now they can always do more organizing but they are making an effort.

As for "unfair", it's the owners that are unfair, not the Unions or their members.

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