The System is Broke for Working Folks

Comments

5 responses to “The System is Broke for Working Folks”

1. 

   Zaid

   June 9, 2009

   Kennedy has returned, I know. As for the DINOs, I think their compromise is making it so that 70% of workers have to sign on to bring the union into force, which is really pathetic.

   We have some corporate-allied Dems to take down, that’s for sure.

2. 

   Eric

   June 9, 2009

   Thats not entirely true. A compromise is in the works with the goal of satifying the DINOs and Specter that will most likely end up severely modifying the “card check” aspect of the bill. We will have to see what comes out of the negotiations. Another big obstacle is that the Dems are down three votes in the Senate (Kennedy,Byrd, and soon to be Senator Franken), So getting through cloture on anything right now is a challenge if you want to maintain any progressive content in any legislation. Any Healthcare legislation will also be subject to the same (hopefully temporary) limitations.

3. 

   Zaid

   June 9, 2009

   Unfortunately EFCA seems to have been punted off the agenda for now by the Dem. leadership.

4. 

   MelGX

   June 8, 2009

   Welcome Eric! Great first post. You came out of the box swinging!

5. 

   J.M. Prince

   June 8, 2009

   Thanks for this Eric, These are some of my comments made in part on TPM Cafe a few months back on this very topic, mainly addressing the ‘secret ballot canard:[Revised slightly]:

   Let’s start with some basic history here!

   1.) Secret Ballots, the History: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_ballot]. They were not applied for general Western civic elections until the 1850’s principally in 1 minor state in Australia, but then spreading to most of their states, hence it became known as ‘the Australian ballot’ system during the 19th century.

   2.) It was part of a reform effort in England of the 1850’s, but was not instituted there until later, (Ballot Act of 1872).

   3.) In the US, it was not until the Close of the 19th century that the ‘secret ballot’ was regularly used in most American elections. The first President elected wholly with this ‘new’ balloting system was, naturally, that good Dem Grover Cleveland in 1892.

   So in summation: As a hypothetical putative Traditional Conservative ‘strict constructionist’, you will search the language of the Constitution & The Federalist Papers in Vain trying to search for the concept of a ‘secret ballot’. It’s just not there. The Founders in all their wisdom did not see fit to fool with it.

   So again for all the crocodile tears shed on behalf of the ‘sacred American secret ballot’? We spent the first 100+ years of our history almost in blissful ignorance of its widespread influence or use on our elections!

   The 2nd argument is more practical and based upon the real evidence on the ground, rather than the mere supposition & airy legal/logical arguments & some RW propaganda repeated here. It’s this; Even before the Bush Depression, every year 1000’s of workers get laid off & fired for trying to organize their workplaces. They face massive, very well funded & well coordinated campaigns of intimidation, threats and sometimes outright violence to try and prevent Unions from forming in their workplaces. Those are the facts according to any objective labor law source you care to consult. Survey’s tell us that better than 1/3 of all union organizers are fired for doing just that, trying to get workers their full rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights & the Constitution. They face campaigns of crass intimidation & constant harassment by private security firms that are now as ever empowered by employers to ‘hunt & destroy’ any such efforts happening in their plants & stores & shops.

   Most of this is wholly illegal, but the small fines levied on these corporations and the weak enforcement of all labor laws means that they get away with it. For many corporations, it’s just a minor cost of doing business. Today, organizing is a process that can drag on for years or decades even, given the level of threats, intimidation, and immediate job losses. No workplace boss that fights using these well honed & practiced dirty, under handed tactics ‘loses’ an election. They’re rigged by dint of sheer exhaustion & a pervasive climate of fear created by the employers. Time & time again. Such elections are indeed similar to petty tyrants being elected by fraud or mobs of goons in the ‘banana republics’ of yore, where ‘the dear leader’ always wins.

   So the real thugs? If you’re down on the working floors, you know who they are. They’re the ones who’ll dangerously lock you in at night to prevent you from ‘escaping’ your late night janitorial cleaning job. The ones hiring all the illegals to do the jobs more cheaply than the locals can afford to. The ones killing those same workers in increased workplace accidents due to ‘language problems’ and safety information never adequately being translated or transmitted into the many foreign tongues now seen on the job.

   The much vaunted ‘sacred secret ballot’? Unknown to the Founders & the Greeks & Romans before them who were their exemplars. Not Mentioned in the Constitution. Not exactly necessary for a robust Democracy. A Right Wing Red Herring. We may feel well & good about it, but me? I want my ballot & vote to be counted accurately too, and we’re just not there yet. It too waits for further reforms to our electoral system. JMP