Up the Union!

I woke up to some great news. Wisconsin Republicans just pushed through the bill to castrate the public sector unions in that state. The bill has now moved on to the state’s senate where it is in limbo until the Democrats return from hiding. I hope they stay there forever… And by great news I meant WTF!

I hope this is a wake up call to those of you who still believe that the Republicans are a working class organization or to those of you who vote for them because you think the government should tell us what birth control methods we can use and when and with whom we can have sex. You are voting to eliminate the benefits that have amassed over the last century thanks to labor unions. These bills could set work place conditions and workers’ benefits back a century. That’s what I’ve always looked forward to, working in a sweat shop.

“Democrats and unions see the measure as an attack on workers’ rights and an attempt to cripple union support for Democrats. Union leaders say they would make pension and health care concessions if they can keep their bargaining rights, but Walker has refused to compromise.”

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/02/25/business/AP-US-Wisconsin-Budget-Unions.html?_r=1&hp

If you think this is about making sure budgets are met, it isn’t. Walker has consistently said that he will accept no compromise that doesn’t limit the unions collective bargaining rights. This is about the workers’ right to organize themselves and uses the power of numbers against the power of wealth.

As the Great American Hero, Utah Phillips said,

“The state can’t give you freedom, and the state can’t take it away. You’re born with it, like your eyes, like your ears. Freedom is something you assume, then you wait for someone to try to take it away. The degree to which you resist is the degree to which you are free…”

I hope we are truly free and any legislation that is passed to strip us of our rights, we simply ignore. And then fight like hell when the come for us.