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| | MESSAGE FROM SECRETARY-TREASURER
Steven P. Vairma |
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Time for the U.S. Senate to stand up for America
President's Column-Rocky Mountain Teamster
There is so much waffling going on today in political circles that it reminds one of the local I-Hop.
On the national level, some of labor's so-called friends are now wringing their hands, biting their lips and looking for the nearest exit every time they are asked about the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). They were the heroes of the working class until confronted with a real labor issue.
At this point, the final outcome of the EFCA issue is anybody's guess. The fact that the Democrats fell one or two senate seats (depending on when Al Franken is seated in Minnesota) short of a filibuster-proof U.S. Senate is troublesome. If we end up needing one or two Republicans, we may fall short again because, like Democrats, Republican balls seem to shrink in crunch time, so to speak.
But if we fail by a small number of Democrats, we are sure to lose, no filibuster needed.
Labor is also having problems on the state level in some legislatures where so-called progressives are in control. Union leaders often complain about the shortage of support for labor issues among office holders who were endorsed and supported by the unions.
All of the sudden with the politicians, it's like this: "Wow, the labor guys want something from us. How do we get out of this one? We didn't expect this. We really need the money and the boots on the ground, but how can they expect us to support them on this issue?" Oh, pity the poor business guys whose buddies on Wall Street have been cheating the working middle class for years. Checked your 401k recently?
Corporate America supports legislation every year on the national and state levels that diminishes our federal and state labor laws. On the other hand, organized labor has worked hard over the years to enact laws establishing Social Security, the 40-hour workweek, occupational safety and health safeguards, workers' compensation, unemployment benefits, overtime pay and others.
If today's politicians were in office when those laws were enacted, I am not sure they would have had the courage to stand up to the business interests that were running the political show at the time. How tough it must have been in 1935 to vote for the Wagner Act, which gave the unions the right to organize at a time when the Roosevelt administration was being attacked unmercifully by the corporations.
Workers today face serious problems. They work under archaic labor laws, which are often interpreted by hostile judges whose decisions have chipped away at workers' rights in the workplace. Workers can be fired and replaced by scab replacement workers for going on strike, and they are confronted by a growing income gap between themselves and the wealthy class.
Fortunately, in this country we are capable of doing something about it. We can go to the polls and vote for our supporters, once we figure out who they are.
And, lest our politicians forget, we can also work against those who pay lip service to the middle class during a campaign, but bow to the business interests at crunch time.
This time, the politicians must stop the waffling and stand up for America.
SB29.pdf
