Labor unions all over the country should be energized after the big win yesterday in Ohio where voters overwhelmingly rejected a law that stripped public sector unions of collective bargaining rights.
Ohio Governor John Kasich signed Senate Bill 5 into law last March after it was passed by the Republican-controlled legislature. The bill was Kasich’s scapegoat for pushing an extreme anti-worker agenda that favors the richest 1 percent at the expense of the remaining 99 percent of the nation’s population.
The repeal of Senate Bill 5 by a vote of the people was a huge win for working men and women. It proved to doubters that organized labor still has the ability to come alive and effectively perform in the political arena.
It was a strong message not only to Republicans, but also to Democrats who should have gained insight on what they stand to lose if they continue to get down on their knees for corporate campaign contributions.
Democratic candidates must realize there are two sides in every fight — whether it is a back-alley brawl or a political debate. Many of them now play for both sides, which corrupts the system. Pick a side, Democrats, and get in the battle.
If you choose labor’s side, you gain an undying ally. But if you accept campaign contributions and support from labor’s enemies, labor shouldn’t hesitate to take extreme measures, such as supporting opposition candidates in primary elections, to achieve its goal.
Corporations are not people, regardless of what the U.S. Supreme Court and Mitt Romney say. Corporations are labor’s political enemy. That is proven over and over by their continual support of anti-worker legislation, such as Senate Bill 5 in Ohio, and politicians like Kasich and his pal, Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin.
The message of Ohio should also be a forceful reminder to nonunion workers, who are fearful for their jobs in a bad economy, that unions are the best hope for the future of all working families.
Trade unions have always been the pathway to the middle class and that won’t change unless organized labor is destroyed. So, if you’re not a union member, sign an authorization card and vote union.
Awesome read. Thanks for writing.
All of Steve Vairma’s suggestions are good ones to try and rein in the Democratic Party from the control of corporate America and the 1%. However, I would add one thing: don’t vote for what I call ‘business Democrats’. I started this last year and for the first time in 45 years of voting did not vote for certain offices. I skipped the Governor, U. S. Senate, and State Senate races here in Colorado. Hickenlooper, Bennett, and Romer did not get my vote. I would now add Mayor Hancock to that list. The argument that they are not as bad as the Republicans no longer holds any water. They are simply taking us down the same economic and social path only at a slightly slower pace. They make no effort to rein in the corportate theft of democracy from the American people. They take no position until corportations say “OK, you can do that little bit.” Witness Michael Benett and the Employee Free Choice Act. He claims to support the rights of workers to organize and will suppo
rt changes to labor law when corporations agree to something! Yet anthing they agree to will be meaningless.
The problem of the ‘liberal’ democratic party is that they now define liberal or progressive by social issues and pay no attention to the more historical focus on economic justice, fairness and democracy as the cornerstone of progressive thinking. This needs to change. The Occupy Wall Street movement has now put some badly needed focus on this issue. One would hope the Democrats would respond but based on the suppression of Occupy Denver by Hancock and Hickenlooper without any counterbalancing word from any Democratic official indicates that will not happen. They see it as a threat to their corporate contributors without whom they will not make a move. But as the focus on economic justice that OWS has created continues to grow efforts to end the corporate control of our democracy will sprout up. If they are in the Democratic party, fine. If they take other forms that is fine too, maybe even better.
If you need an outlet that the Democrats no longer provide, as I do, then join me and thousands of others every Saturday at noon for the Occupy Denver rally and march.
Steve Bieringer