Unions Dwindling, Dems in Trouble
I'm not much of a supporter of unions to begin with, but I thought this article is quite telling about the future of the Democratic Party, especially in big cities:
Posted on Sat, Jul. 23, 2005
Just mild about labor
By Jane M. Von Bergen
Inquirer Staff Writer
Just mild about labor
By Jane M. Von Bergen
Inquirer Staff Writer
They say nothing is as American as baseball. Fifty years ago, when the AFL-CIO was founded, one could have said the same thing about labor unions. One in four Americans belonged to a labor union; now, only 12 percent of the nation's workforce is unionized.
Tomorrow in Chicago, the AFL-CIO may split in two, a potentially seminal moment in labor history and one that's been chewed over for months by union leaders, consultants and pundits.
(snip)
The AFL-CIO splitting up?
Nobody knew, and not too many cared.
"What's a labor union?" asked Rodney Black, 17, a Camden high school senior who works at the ballfield making funnel cakes.
The TrekMedic wonders about that statement and the efficacy of union-run public education,...
(snip)
In Chicago, the debate is over how to increase union membership. One side wants to spend more of the labor movement's financial resources on grassroots organizing. The other side puts the focus on politics to elect officials who would enact more labor-friendly policies.
(snip)
The AFL-CIO's Family Feud
What's going on?Last-minute negotiations to repair a rift in the nation's largest conglomeration of labor unions, the AFL-CIO, are looking increasingly unproductive. The AFL-CIO's convention starts Monday in Chicago.
What's next? Leaders of the some of the largest unions, including the Teamsters, the Service Employees and the United Food and Commercial Workers, may decide tomorrow to leave the AFL-CIO.
Over what?The dissidents want more focus on grassroots organizing and less focus on Democratic-oriented politics.
Then what? If the national unions break up, local branches of the unions will see if they can find a way to work together anyway.
posted by TheBitterAmerican @ 9:02 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Condsidering the amount of money the workers pay for the union, their money should go into a pension plan instead of tp the democrats. They'll need it since the lefties will do nothing about social security.
The Public Record covered this from the Philly angle a few weeks ago..
http://www.phillyrecord.com/2005/0630/0-article-01.html
The AFL-CIO saved the Teamsters from being run by the Feds.
Now they bolt.
No big deal, they were seperate before - corrupted themselves into near shutdown and they'll be back begging at the AFL's door again.
Now opponents to organized labor will have two foes to track instead of one.
Tesco your jealousy is showing again.
Paul,
My dues were less than 2 soft drinks a day. As for social security - most Union Represented Employees have a pension, most freeloaders like you don't and need the S.S. desperately, you'll never earn enough to manage a pension of your own the company you work for has to pay half of what goes into S.S. for you - the company won't pay that half when you get your own 'control' of your contribution.
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