REPORT: The American Middle Class Was Built By Unions And It Will Decline Without

[cal04]

REPORT: The American Middle Class Was Built By Unions And It Will Decline Without Them
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/09/05/311831/american-middle-class-organized-labor/

Today is Labor Day, a federally recognized holiday that most Americans likely think of as a well-deserved day off. Labor Day was first celebrated in the late 1880′s as labor activists from the American Federation of Labor (which later formed part of the basis for the AFL-CIO) and other unions rallied around a day to celebrate organized labor and to take a day off. In 1887 Oregon started a formal “Labor Day” and by 1897 President Glover Cleveland made it a federal holiday, reacting to pressure from unions following the contentious Pullman Strike.

On this day that is set aside to celebrate the American laborer, Americans should recall the many benefits that organized labor have provided our country:

1. Unions Gave Us The Weekend:
2. Unions Helped End Child Labor:
3. Unions Won Widespread Employer-Based Health Coverage:
4. Unions Spearheaded The Fight For The Family And Medical Leave Act:

(snip)
As the following chart from CAP’s David Madland and Karla Waters demonstrates, as union membership fell from the 1970′s to the present, the middle class’s share of national income fell as well:



As Union Membership Rates Decrease, Middle Class Incomes Shrink
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/01/20/173738/report-incomes/

[just us]

1. Unions and middle class

With the help of all the labor unions in the US we must create
the WPP ( The Working Peoples Party) and recruit leaders that
will take an oath of loyalty to the working people of the US.
Start now and elect our people this election by "write
in" or state party creation.I am but a simple man but I
see this as our only way to unseat the criminals that sit in
state an federal offices.The people presently in office cannot
be trusted to help us.
  As part of the pledge the elected leaders of our party will
only serve two terms as to prevent corupting them with
lobbying.
Thank you for allowing me to reply.

[sam11111]

2. term limits help the RW - only they have the cash to buy ads that create "name recognition"

for new candidates every two terms.

New LW faces will fail without name recognition cash by the truckload.

Thus the RW has pushed for term limits all around our globe. It tricks so many good people.

[TBF]

3. Solidarity nt