8 results for tag: Unions
UNIONS BUILT THE MIDDLE CLASS
UNIONS BUILT THE MIDDLE CLASS
By John Spiegelhoff
The 1950’s and 1960’s are considered a time of prosperity for our country. Workers were paid a good wage and our economy was booming. Corporate CEO’s earned just a little more than the workers. Our country manufactured goods right here in America and manufacturing jobs were plentiful. Companies took pride in their workforce. They knew a well-paid workforce with benefits and a pension benefitted the entire country. Most people considered themselves middle class.
Now people are wondering: what happened to our middle class?
Over the past forty years this is what happened.
In 1954 ...
THE DAILY CALL
THE DAILY CALL
By Virginia Kirsch
“Mere passive citizenship is not enough. Men must be aggressive for what is right if government is to be saved from men who are aggressive for what is wrong.” By Robert “Fighting Bob” LaFollette;
It is in this tone of Fighting Bob that articles are selected to keep our citizens informed and our democracy strong.
The Daily Call is a free daily update from Wisconsin on news updates, commentary, links and support networks for progressives.
Mark L. Taylor is the editor and invites you to read his daily post at www.thedailycall.org .
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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 ...
Divide and Conquer Works in Wisconsin
This week Wisconsin became a right to work state. This was a “given” when reactionary Republicans took control of state government.
Legislation to eliminate prevailing wages is next. These laws require public contractors to compete by having better management or efficiency, not just lower wages. This is another attack on unions and the public good.
Ironically, this week the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a campaign finance reform advocacy group, released figures on union contributions to Governor Walker. Unions representing engineers, police, firefighters, plumbers, carpenters and other trades contributed contributed $83,000 to Walker's ...
“RIGHT TO WORK” – FOR LESS
The following is the text of a speech given by Fred Andrist at a press event against “Right to Work” on March 4, 2015, in Wausau, WI. Mr. Andrist was a teacher for 21 years, 15 of those in Rib Lake northwest of Wausau, a Public School Employees Union Rep for 18 years in Menomonie and Rhinelander, a former President of Statewide Staff Union for six years, a Proud Union Member for 33 years, and a member of the North Central Labor Coalition centered in Oneida County. Fred recently retired.
There is a lot to dislike about the “Right to Work” (RTW) for less. For me this bill promises lower wages and more worker deaths and injuries on the ...
WILL LINCOLN’S AMERICA PERISH FROM THE EARTH?
By: Scott Erlenborn
Over 230 year ago America’s founding father’s brought forth upon this continent a new nation that was conceived in liberty and dedicated in blood; a government of the people, by the people and for the people that thus far has not perished from this Earth. Just as this noble experiment was put to the test during Abraham Lincoln’s tenure, it is now being put to the test by those that call themselves Lincoln’s Party. It is being put to the test by those who would seek to replace our great democracy with a corporate plutocracy, a government of the richest of the rich, by the richest of the rich and for the richest of the ...
Unions: The Real Homeland Security
Americans are obsessed with national security. Over half of the national budget is spent on defense. The Department of Homeland Security has brought us the biggest bureaucracy in the history of human kind. But for most of us real security is a job with a future, a family supporting wage, affordable healthcare, affordable housing, and a secure retirement.
Family supporting jobs are on the decline. Average workers are being paid less when adjusted for inflation. Homelessness is on the rise. Workers in their 20's are especially insecure with high costs of schooling, student loan debt, poor job prospects, and continuing high housing costs. Secure ...