Sunday, September 9, 2012

Romney Vs. Labor Unions


James Hoffa, Teamsters President, Says Romney 'Wants To Annihilate Organized Labor'


Posted:  Updated: 09/08/2012 11:22 am

"The way Teamsters President James P. Hoffa sees it, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney would be happy if an already weakened American labor movement ceased to exist altogether.
"He wants to annihilate organized labor as we know it," Hoffa told HuffPost outside the Democratic National Convention this week. "It's on his website. I'm not making this up. He's for a national right-to-work law. The Republican Party has veered dangerously to the right. It's rather incredible, in 2012, if you think about it."
Indeed, Romney's official stance on labor isn't kind to unions. His campaign website suggests that unions have outlasted their significance, "driv[ing] up costs and introduc[ing] rigidities that harm competitiveness and frustrate innovation." He supports states pursuing right-to-work laws, which weaken the clout of unions, and his party last week approved a platform pushing for national right-to-work legislation. He'd also like to prohibit automatic union dues-deduction from employee paychecks."


This really isn't surprising at all.  This guy is bought and paid for by Big Business and he is so enamored of the possibility of being POTUS that he is willing to sell out everything he may once have stood for.  Labor has a right to Unions and organization in order to collectively fight against poor working conditions, low wages, etc.  Do we go back to sweat shops and no minimum wage?  Workers at KFC in China make less per hour hour than the cost of a hamburger.  Is this where we are headed so that the likes of WalMart can squeeze the last cent of profit out of their workers?  Have you seen who works at WalMart?  Seniors who can't pay their bills if they depend on Social Security.  In the meantime Mrs. Ann Romney cooks pancakes dressed in designer dresses and pearls!!  Good luck with that!

Not so long ago I was a union representative for the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.  I witnessed many incidents where union members got away with what I would call lack of professionalism.  They were protected by the PFT.  But, the PFT brought so many positive changes to the school system that these few cases are not the ones to judge the union.  Those changes were not only in favor of the workers but also greatly benefited the students making sure that class size was adhered to,  clean and neat classrooms were the standard, restrooms were clean both for students and staff, and so on.  I went through the Philadelphia schools as both a student and employee and was encouraged by the positive changes.

I must admit that unions can go overboard with wage demands, working conditions, and protection of employees.  On the other hand, were the workers left to the kindness of their employers...well you can just imagine how the individuals would be taken advantage of and abused by greed for profits.

My father, rest his soul, called me a socialist-commie-hippie (in jest of course).  Not so.  I am for common decency toward our fellow human beings.  Do unto others, karma, and all of that.

Imagine...