Unions built the middle class

"One hard fact stands out, though: America was the first country ever where a majority of its citizens joined the middle class. Labor unions created that middle class. Today, no country in the world has ever had a strong middle class without a strong labor movement.

And like all social movements, the labor movement was born fighting. To end slavery, it took a war. For women's suffrage, it took marching in the streets. For civil rights, it took civil disobedience.Middle-class prosperity wasn't a gift to working families from the government. It wasn't something that workers got from employers after pleasant chats in the boardroom. Middle-class prosperity was the direct result of a long and difficult struggle. People fought and died for fair wages, safe workplaces and the right to join together in a union."

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100414/OPINION03/4140325/1008/OPINION01/Labor-movement-fights-in-support-of-the-middle-class#ixzz0lBjr8n4m

James Hoffa
Detroit News article

I couldn't have said it better myself Mr. Hoffa. The whole article is great IMO.


From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100414/OPINION03/4140325/1008/OPINION01/Labor-movement-fights-in-support-of-the-middle-class#ixzz0lBiyJymN://www.detnews.com/article/20100414/OPINION03/4140325/1008/OPINION01/Labor-movement-fights-in-support-of-the-middle-class

And anyone who says we don't need unions anymore has plenty of examples proving them wrong.

comfortable -- say that unions were fine during the days of child labor and unsafe workplaces, but now that everything is fine, we don't need them anymore. It simply comes from a mindset that has the privilege to assume that because I work at a desk and have no obvious safety issues, everyone else either does or wants to, and if they don't, they shouldn't complain about the dangers they face on a construction site or coal mine. In addition, my boss and I get along awesome, so I know he's doing right by me; therefore, anyone else with a different experience is an anomaly.

These friends are educated and liberal-minded but politically unsavvy and too privileged to see the real world.

are the ones that have also believed, for many years, that their boss is actually doing the right thing by them. They think he's a nice guy and is paying them justly. It kind of boggles the mind when they're driving the same old beater to work, day in and day out, barely making ends meet, and he's got a new car every year, a boat, a home, a vacation home, goes out of town on long weekend excursions 2 to 3 times a month, and so on. Yet since he's a nice guy, they think he's helping them out.

Mind you, I have NO problem with an employer making decently but, damn, how long does it take for some people to see that typically this "nice guy" boss of their's is raping them blind?


fraternally,
electricD
L.U. 474 IBEW

Can't stress this enough.