Building bridges between labor and the Progressive Left
During WW11 many men were off fighting the war, while women worked in the factories. When the war ended, many women return to the home as homemakers. In 1955, the CIO joined ranks of the AFL form the AFL-CIO. (The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO), the Union is associated with over 57 national and International Unions. In 2008 they represented over 11 million workers. The Largest union represented in the AFL-CIO is the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
The Cold War Years
During the WW11, Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill established a pact to defeat the Germans. After the war ended, western powers decided that they needed to stop communism from overtaking Europe government. The Soviet Union became the main threat and the Cold war began. Members of the AFL-CIO took up the anti-communist call here in America. President Reagan along with other politicians worked with other in labor to remove leaders who were suspected of being a socialist or a member of the Communist Party. Heads of labor like George Meany and others became agents of the Republican and Democratic Party. As they became more concerned with maintaining their standard of living as oppose to representing their workers, they used red baiting to draw attention away from their lack of leadership. As more militant workers started to challenge their leadership, they were often branded as communist or trouble makers and removed from leadership.
Plutocrats joins with state governors to eliminate collective bargaining
One of the main attacks on labor is coming from politicians who are funded by the plutocrats. The Koch Brothers and Sheldon Adelson are spending millions of dollars to support Governor’s Walker union busting activities in Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, Governor Walker exempted the more conservatives unions such as the police and fire fighters from his collective bargaining rights legislation. As a result, their recall campaign failed to win enough votes to remove him from office. Many union leaders didn’t understand that Walker’s plan was to first divide public service unions against blue, civil service and white collar workers before making full assault on all of labor. The Government’s real goal was to make Wisconsin a “right to work state”. In order to defeat Gov. Scott Walker’s union busting efforts, the more conservative unions must join ranks with all labor. Labor union need merge their campaign for survival with organizations like the Moral Majority, the Progressive Left, and friendly media pundits to win the hearts and minds of the American people.
Wikipedia: Who is Sheldon Adelson?
Sheldon Gary Adelson (pronounced /ˈædəlsən/; born August 4, 1933) is an American business magnate. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of theLas Vegas Sands Corporation, the parent company of Venetian Macao Limited which operates The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Center. He also owns the Israeli daily newspaper Israel HaYom. As of March 2014, Adelson was listed by Bloomberg Billionaires Index as having a fortune of $40.8 billion. Forbes places him as the 8th richest person in the world,[3] while Bloomberg lists him as the 9th richest person in the world.[4] Adelson, a lifelong donor and philanthropist to a variety of causes, founded with his wife's initiative theAdelson Foundation.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/31/scott-walker-anti-union-restrictions_n_3682957.html
http://www.salon.com/2013/11/15/ted_cruz_and_koch_brothers_embroiled_in_shadowy_tea_party_scheme/
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