Where are the great New Jersey labor writers?

ANTI-UNION SENTIMENT HAS DESTROYED THE AMERICAN ECONOMY (4.00 / 1)

Once upon a time there was a thriving middle class in this country. Prior to Ronald Reagan things were built here and bought here. Workers had security ,fair wages, and a pension to look forward to when they retired. Companies thrived and reinvested in themselves which made for more jobs and more prosperity.

Those were the days when one in three workers were unionized. The rising tide lifted all boats.

But Reagan and the republicans started to repeat over and over again their " unions are destroying this country" mantra.They said it so many times that people began to believe it.

Where has that taken us?

Since the attack on unions began 30 years ago millions of jobs have left this country. Even jobs in non-union areas left. Just as a rising tide lifts hope, a lowering tide crushes hope. The middle class is getting smaller. Millions do not have health benefits.Pension funds are in serious trouble. Young people cannot get jobs. Older people have to go back to work .

Is this  all a coincidence? I do not believe in coincidences. I believe in cause and effect.

The attack and subsequent decline of unionism in this country has made for a poorer economy where we are beholden to other countries for everything from our cars to our underwear.

Looking back now, was our country better off with 1 in 3 workers being unionized or with 1 in 10 unionized?  

The next time you hear Christie or some other republican denigrate Unions ask him /her if they believe in a strong middle class. If they do ask them if the middle class in this country was stronger in 1980 or right now. Then give them the facts and figures on unionized jobs.

A strong union movement created the most dynamic economic power in the history of the world. A strong anti-union movement has brought that same country down a few notches. Coincidence?

I do not believe in coincidences.      

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by: firstamend07 @ Thu Sep 09, 2010 at 20:09:47 PM UTC

firstamend07 (4.00 / 1)

Dead-on. And all part of a plan to get us to look at our neighbors as the cause of our problems, instead of the people moving the money around. To see the people who are fundamentally just like us, and think of them as taking from us what's ours.

Go back and do 5 minutes of research and see that's exactly the method they use to break up unions, too.


It's not a particularly snappy signature, but here's what I think we need in the next NJ Democratic State Chair.  

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by: Rosi Efthim @ Thu Sep 09, 2010 at 20:28:01 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Outsiders cannot break up a Union (0.00 / 0)

I disagree with your premise that outside rhetoric can break up a union.

A strong union is a union that has a fire in its belly and the concern of its members in its heart. A union like that cannot be broken up by outsiders.

Weak unions are those where communication from the bottom to the top has stopped. Weak unions only communicate from the top down and the members begin to feel that they are no longer a "part" of something and have become just  pawns.

When Union leaders start dictating to the membership that is the beginning of the end . Thati s when outsiders pounce on the union members who are disgruntled.

That unfortunately is the state of many of the unions at this time.    

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by: firstamend07 @ Fri Sep 10, 2010 at 00:51:30 AM UTC