The predators at the top are pitting ordinary workers against one another-By BOB HERBERT

[kpete]

Op-Ed Columnist
Absorbing the Pain
By BOB HERBERT
Published: February 25, 2011
Philadelphia

Lynda Hiller teared up. “We’re struggling real bad,” she said, “and it’s getting harder every day.”

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It would be a mistake to think that this fight is solely about the right of public employees to collectively bargain. As important as that issue is, it’s just one skirmish in what’s shaping up as a long, bitter campaign to keep ordinary workers, whether union members or not, from being completely overwhelmed by the forces of unrestrained greed in this society.

The predators at the top, billionaires and millionaires, are pitting ordinary workers against one another. So we’re left with the bizarre situation of unionized workers with a pension being resented by nonunion workers without one. The swells are in the background, having a good laugh.

I asked Lynda Hiller if she felt generally optimistic or pessimistic. She was quiet for a moment, then said: “I don’t think things are going to get any better. I think we’re going to hit rock bottom. The big shots are in charge, and they just don’t give a darn about the little person.”

more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/26/opinion/26herbert.html?_r=1&ref=opinion