NPR's Chamber of Commerce spin: "Battles May Cripple A Weakened Labor Movement"

[villager]

Nothing about the surprise energy of the resistance to the neocon agenda, of course. Nothing about the extent of support, or the possibility of re-energizing the Labor Movement. Oh no. This article takes the tack that... well, that resistance is futile:


Battles May Cripple A Weakened Labor Movement

Labor unions and their supporters are planning protests in more than a dozen states this week. These rallies are nominally to support government workers in Wisconsin, who could lose many of their union protections as a result of legislation there. But the movement is going national now because anti-union efforts are cropping up in many states.

And what happens in these statehouses could cripple a labor movement that has been in slow decline.

"Wisconsin has become ground zero for the national labor movement," says history professor Stephen Meyer at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. And he says a lot more is at stake than the unions in one state. "Already we've got Ohio, possibly New Jersey ... and other states that are readying similar types of legislation," he says.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, for example, is pushing for legislation to eliminate collective bargaining for state employees. On Monday, union supporters came out to protest.

<snip>

"What they see as a fiscal crisis is really an excuse to go after the social and political strength of the unions," he says. The impetus for change is chiefly coming from Republican legislators who realize if they can weaken the unions, they also weaken the Democrats, who are often backed by labor. Mishler also sees it as another front in the struggle between businesses and workers.

<snip>

http://www.npr.org/2011/02/22/133947762/battles-may-cripple-a-weakened-labor-movement?ft=1&f=1014&sc=tw

[Sherman A1]

1. Of course the opposite may just happen, but

that would not sit well with the Chamber of Commerce....

[Tesha]

2. NPR: "Please please please, Republicans, don't cut our funding! We'll be good! We promise!"

Forget it, NPR, you might as well have stayed true to your
principles all these years instead of repeatedly kissing the
Right Wing's ass in the vain hope that they'd stop kicking
you.

But you and Obama, you'll never learn.

Tesha

[villager]

5. well put. On both counts.

n/t

[amb123]

11. +1000

:thumbsup:

[Jim__]

3. Same thing on CNN early this morning - around 4:00 AM MST.

Talking about labors last gasp. Corporate media, corporate spin.

[Demeter]

4. Wishful Thinking AND Whistling Past the Graveyard

TPTB are exceedingly worried. Good! They should be.

[MedicalAdmin]

6. What we really need is someone to put the fear of god into them.

I'm talking old testiment here.

Some heads need to roll. Some bodies need to burn. Some toadies need to be removed from the picture. Their lives need to made not just difficult but dangerous. They need to go to bed every night not knowing if they or their families will be alive the next morning.

Right now they are inconvenienced, if that.

[villager]

7. Why, even if we had an administration will to levy penalties and consequences for breaking the law

...that would be a start.

[MedicalAdmin]

8. Ahhhh. But we don't, do we?

And violent responses are what can happen when injustice is rampant. WIth luck the world will take a page from the book of MLK/Ghandi/Mandela.

However I also believe that government should be afraid of the people and not the other way around. And given that the real rulers of the country are the uber rich and given that they are not accountable to the people via election or recall, then it follows in some ways that the way to hold them accountable is to take from them something that they value and will notice.

Thus I suggest that it might happen that someone would find it efficient to make them pay attention in ways that historically are valid. The French revolution comes to mind.

[villager]

9. No we don't, Plus I'm missing the "ing" on "willing" in my reply header.

Both things make me grumpy.

Though the takeover of my country by the ultra-rich has even farther reaching consequences than that.

[MedicalAdmin]

12. Heck ya - you are so right.

Feed the poor. Eat the rich.

[swilton]

10. National Petroleum Radio

What would you expect!?