A word about my dear, departed Dad, the Union member...

[PCIntern]

I have occasionally posted about my father who held two full-time jobs, one for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and one with the Post Office/Postal Service, AND obtained no fewer than seven (7) masters degrees in subjects ranging from linguistics and American Literature, to Hebrew Literature to English Poetry. He was a union member all the way and I spent my entire young life listening to him extol the virtues of the Worker versus the Corporation. Now, he was a pragmatist, and actually had great respect for the existence of the corporations, but virtually none for the people who made up the hierarchies of most companies. He taught me that a few talented people were extant in every company and those people were the driving forces towards success and/or continued success. Everyone else there was too concerned with his or her well-being in Managerial Politics to be creative enough and to have enough drive to lead the company towards greater successes, products, profits, and expansion.

He possessed no doubt that if left to their own devices, management would revert to the bad-old-days involving worker abuse, low low pay, child labor, unsafe conditions, and "Fire-at-will", for which he hated the comic strip "Blondie" b/c Mr. Dithers was always firing Dagwood spontaneously, but the next day, Dagwood would be back at work on the Strip. He taught me that that's NOT how it works, and not how it's supposed to work.

He knew and understood the abuses of some union members, the hierarchy of the unions were often dangerous in and of themselves, but that the benefits were hugely more weighty than the risks, and that "safety in numbers" was as good a cliche as any. His Unions saved his jobs many times, since the Feds didn't like the State job and vice-versa. In this manner, he established for me the importance of having these organizations, and that when I would grow up, that I would not denigrate them even if I were not a member or part of Management, which technically, I am these days. I often think of my Dad when I hear these folks like Joe Scab or Newt (my kid was at his speech at Penn the other night, as part of the Penn Dems' Protest - I'm so proud!)bashing unions: then I know, listening to them, that he was absolutely right in his philosophy and his surmises.

[Angry Dragon]

1. The world needs more union dads

[Lifelong Protester]

2. Thanks for your story. My dad was union too, even when it was

tough (construction in the Midwest meant lay-offs a lot of winters, food stamps, threats of eviction, all that crap). I miss my dad like I'm sure you miss yours. I hope Dad is watching me when I'm with my colleagues in Madison.

[annabanana]

3. I don't think my Dad was ever part of a union... but he made sure

that we understood the value of labor, without which, nothing is possible.

[Rick Myers]

4. My Dad did 46 YEARS on the railroads...

He was a union man... And a strict Democratic voter!!!

[uberblonde]

5. My dad, too.

I grew up with the union. Dad was a yellow dog Democrat with one exception -- he voted for Nixon's first term. He confessed to me while he was dying that it was one of his chief regrets. (I forgave him, of course.)