Union thugs also praised by Hard LeftThe Communist Party USA, while on occasion working to build third party efforts, has since the 1930s, consistently supported and infiltrated the Democratic Party.
In a column in today’s Peoples World, Communist Party national Secretary Sam Webb, lays out the reasons why his Party, despite some “disappointments”, will continue to support their “friend” Barack Obama and the Democrats in 2012.
But the main question from a strategic point of view is this: Does it make any difference, from the standpoint of the class and democratic struggles, which party gains political ascendency?
Some – though not the labor movement nor other mass organizations of the American people – say no, it doesn’t.
Some even go a step further and say a Democratic victory creates popular illusions, which in turn weaken the people’s struggles. And the only way out of this vise is to form a third party now.
Communists don’t agree with either one of these views. In our view, the differences between the two parties of capitalism are of consequence to class and democratic struggles.
(from
trevorloudon.com)
Ramesh Ponnuru takes on the decline of Organized LaborThe shift toward a more competitive economy has not hurt workers in general: Total employee compensation as a share of the economy held fairly steady during the second half of the last century even as unions were shrinking. (It’s true that wages as a share of the economy fell, but that was a result of the increased cost of benefits.) The shift has, however, increased inequality among workers, with more rewards going to those with higher skills.
If we want to reverse the unions’ decline, the kind of labor-law changes that the Obama administration’s appointees to the NLRB have in mind -- such as speeding up elections -- are unlikely to do the trick. We would have to reduce competition among companies, too, domestically and internationally. The economy would have to be far more regulated than anyone in the mainstream of American politics has advocated. And we would almost certainly have to be willing to be a poorer country. We shouldn’t want any of that.
Our country has plenty of economic problems. But we also have blessings, and the continued decline of labor unions is one of them.
(from
bloomberg.com)
Obama camp eyes civil unrest for 2012 re-electThousands of British schools will close and travelers will face long lines at airport immigration this week when three quarters of a million workers go on strike – the first blast in what unions hope will be a summer of discontent.
The first test comes Thursday, when 750,000 public-sector workers – from teachers to driving examiners to customs officials – walk out for the day, part of a growing wave of opposition to the Conservative-led government’s deficit-cutting regime of tax hikes, benefit curbs and spending cuts.
The U.K. Border Agency has warned travelers could face delays at British ports and airports when passport officers walk out, and said “passengers who can do so may wish to travel on other dates.” The agency says there is no risk to Britain’s security.
The unions say the strike is just the start of a campaign of labor action on a scale unseen in Britain for three decades.
“On Thursday we will see hundreds of thousands of civil and public servants on strike,” said Mark Serwotka, leader of the Public and Commercial Services Union. “We fully expect to be joined by millions more in the autumn.”
(from
theblaze.com)
Union thugs also praised by Hard Left
