A LETTER TO THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE

A LETTER TO THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE By John Spiegelhoff John Spiegelhoff sent this letter to the Democratic National Committee in response to their fundraising request. Mr. Spiegelhoff is the Staff Representative for AFSCME Minnesota Council 65. Dear Democratic National Committee: First, permit me to introduce myself. My name is John Spiegelhoff and I am a middle- class voter in the Midwest. I think it is appropriate to inform you that I have voted Democratic as long as I have been a registered voter. I have financially supported Democratic candidates mostly at the state and local levels. Since, all politics are local. Or so I ...

WORKERS’ MEMORIAL DAY – APRIL 28TH

Unless you are a labor historian, you probably wouldn’t know who Mary “Mother” Jones was. But her legacy in the labor movement is immense. Mary Mother Jones was born Mary Harris in 1837 in Cork, Ireland. She moved to Toronto, Canada at ten years old due to the potato famine in Ireland. In her early adulthood she moved to the United States, married and had four children. In 1867 yellow fever struck her entire family leaving her a widow. She moved to Chicago where her small dressmaking shop eventually burned in the 1871 Chicago fire. In her later years, Mary Harris championed against deplorable working conditions, subsistence wages, twelve ...

Worker Exploitation Laws

A group of people decide to go out to eat. Everyone in the group knows that they will receive a bill when they finish eating. Two people in the group decide that the others will need to pay their dinner bill despite partaking in the benefits of the meal. After reading this hypothetical situation did you perhaps say to yourself “I would never think about doing something like that!” This hypothetical situation is similar to what people commonly and unfortunately call “Right to Work” laws. “Right to Work” is a name or slogan that can be accurately described as a misnomer. Most dictionary references define misnomer as follows: Misnomer ...

What Happened To the Notion of Us? A Declaration of Action

What is to become of us as a nation? Do we talk about each other in those terms or do we talk about how we function as a nation as “us and them.” I am not blameless. My worldview has been shaped by my experiences. I am human and I am guilty of viewing those on the other side of the political fence as having little empathy for others. But deep in my heart, I do not want to believe it to be this way. We are all being played - played by the Koch Brothers, the 1% ers and their ilk. We are constantly bombarded that “others” are to blame - the poor, the Unions, the teachers or insert your identified villain of the day here _________. We are ...

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