Unions also tend to be undemocratic, which engenders corruption, alienates union members, and creates negative word-of-mouth among unorganized blue and pink collar workers.

We need national laws making union membership the default setting, and requiring uniform by-laws that will guarantee internal union democracy.

selise @ 51

chris hedges makes the argument that the abandonment of the working class by the democrats, and the consequential economic hardship many communities are dealing with, is one of the driving forces of the fundamentalist “christian” political movement.

sometimes hardship can breed extremism.

….

if this is so, then it is just one more reason to HATE the dlc corporatists.

selise,

Most every time I read your posts, I think you hit the nail on the head.

When the only tool you have is a hammer, every thing (every solution) looks like a nail.

CTuttle @ 57

Insane, hamstring the Teamsters… I wonder if the Mexican Insurance Companies will pay for the accidents… So much for cargo scrutiny… Hmmm.. I know I left a bunch out…!!! 8-(

Is it WalMart stuff coming in the trucks or veggies?

The problem with Mexican trucks on our highways is that they load them up with three trailers. Sounds good until you realize that the trailers going over the road start this rocking motion that bangs the hell outa the pavement – which is one reason their roads are all torn up. To allow them to drive on our roads like that will cost mucho bucks from our taxpayers to repair all the freeways. Another reason that Walmart is not really cheap.

Just FWIW

In the summer of 1965, I worked in a union shop doing piece work. In Aurora, Illinois. While in college.

Management: do piece work.

Union: Don’t produce more than the established limit of piece work per hour.

Union: Must pay us dues, even if you don’t belong to the union.

The reason that most unions try to limit the piecework is so that the company cannot take the fastest worker and make that the new benchmark. This is what they did early on in China. They just keep speeding up the line, and burning out the employees. The young girls who work the lines in China start in their teens, and are discarded within ten years or so – too broken with repetitive stress to work any more.

The movie: Take This Job and Shove It! did a great job outlining this problem. We in america see this in the deep south chicken processing factories, where the women dressing chickens are unable at 25 to pick up their babies or their groceries because of Repetitive Stress.

Perhaps we need a movie marathon –

1. Take this job and shove it
2. Network
3. On the Waterfront
4. Good Night and Good Luck
5. Red State
6. Inconvient Truth
7. Erin Brockovich

…any other ones I forgot??

It’s not just the unions – it’s the continuing strength of the organizing skills at the local and state level. Media politics has undercut this essential process of local organizing and Dems have paid the price because the Repugs latched onto the Christian Right to do this for them (and the faith-based initiative has continued to fund them). This is why Dean’s 50 State Strategy is so important to start and continue building the party infrastructure at local and state level, particularly in red states that are still voting 40-49% Democratic. (Hillary has not yet accepted this and is still counting on big money/media.)
The local strategy has a double whammy because it also gets Dems and Progressives elected at the local and state level which continues to build party strength over the long haul. Lasting change happens from the bottom up-not top down.

One example of how this is working on state level is in SC – where the SC Dems are coalitioning with the Universal Health Care initiative, which is bringing people who think health care is important, including small business leaders, into the democratic fold.
And once you’re working with people on an issue you care about, trust builds, and educating them about others is lots easier.

Unions served much of this purpose in manufacturing states in the past but with the outsourcing of those jobs – they’ve had nowhere to go. I agree it’s time to get a new ‘union label’ but we must continue to tap the organizing skills around the important issues: environmental groups, global warming, children’s health, protecting SS/pensions, etc. Coalition-building is all about finding common ground – and the Dem priorities give the focus for that search.

Remember: the bottom line is “all politics is local.”

Christine @ 83, 102, 113, 117

I was once a union member, what your “burr under the sadle” is about is that there is a “cost” involved in creating the contract you are working under (as well as benefiting from). It appears that the cost is <2% of the gross wage, not a particularly heavy cost as administrative costs can be. It is by your statements, your choice not to become a member of the union which means it is your choice NOT to have a voice in that organization and consequently imput into their barganing process. If the employer absolutely violated the contract, that union would be all over the employers case, but if you are not, by choice, a member of the union, you will probably not be kept informed, that is the consequence of your choice. Cry that you are abused, try working in a “right to work” state, you would be lucky to get 12K a year for the same work – I would guess. Seriously EPU’d

This is in a ‘right to work’ state. Yes, I’m aware of ‘overhead’ costs of the union and yes, I know what unions have done for this country. But, I still don’t get where they can take your money, but not represent you in all aspects of the place of employment/terms of contract. It’s like they want the money, but only 50% of the work.

I was once a union member, what your “burr under the sadle” is about is that there is a “cost” involved in creating the contract you are working under (as well as benefiting from). It appears that the cost is <2% of the gross wage, not a particularly heavy cost as administrative costs can be. It is by your statements, your choice not to become a member of the union which means it is your choice NOT to have a voice in that organization and consequently imput into their barganing process. If the employer absolutely violated the contract, that union would be all over the employers case, but if you are not, by choice, a member of the union, you will probably not be kept informed, that is the consequence of your choice. Cry that you are abused, try working in a “right to work” state, you would be lucky to get 12K a year for the same work – I would guess. Seriously EPU’d

One way to look at it is that unless you’re an owner/employer/manager, you’re a member of the working class, like it or not. It’s kind of like being a citizen of a nation, entitled to the benefits, but also subject to the burdens.