One of the main purposes of the Democratic Party is to raise wages. That's also the main purpose of organized labor, which is why labor unions often run the Democratic Party. A few of the unions are ossified, corrupt old beasts that leave a horrible image for labor unions. Most are decent. A few are extraordinary. SEIU is one of the extraordinary ones.
Here is Ramsin Canon's account as an SEIU organizer on the organizing victory for child care workers, earned just this spring. Wages will rise. Our economy will improve with more money in the pockets of people who will spend it. And our state will be a little more just, thanks to the hundreds of thousands of hours the organizers, advocates and volunteers invested over the last two years into the campaign. Thanks to them.
And if you're inspired by this struggle, join them. Join PurpleOcean.org and SEIU, the most aggressive labor union in the county, right now.
2 comments:
I was just thinking recently about a conversation that I had several years ago when I was back in school completing my engineering degree. A felow student was complaining about the fact that a union worker could make more money than we would with our brand-new degrees, and "didn't that bother me?" I said no, it didnt, and made some vague comment about unions being the foundation of our country. But I was just thinking that if I had to answer that question today, I would say that no, it didn't bother me because the fact that that union worker was earning a decent wage meant that he/she would be able to afford to provide a stable life, decent education, and decent health care for their children, which would increase the likelihood that they would grow up to be productive *taxpaying* members of society, who could help pay for things that I really like, such roads that are safe to drive on, water you can drink, and a big shiny red truck that comes when you smell smoke and dial 911!
When people are paid decent wages, *everyone* benefits because they have a better chance of withstanding the inevitable stresses and strains of life to become (and remain) happy, productive contributors to society, and to raise children who are also such contributors. And besides, if you want to be "bothered" by someone being overpaid, instead of the union member, why not consider the $9 million average yearly salary of the CEOs of the major corporations? What type of human activity is worth $9 million a year? (Unless they are shitting gold bricks, cuz that actually might be worth it.)
Just another thing to add to the column of "wish I had thought to say that when ..." :-)
So who was the Victory over? If someone had a Victory, who lost here? Seems you can't have a victory without a defeat and I'm courious who's defeated here.
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