Secretary-Treasurer's
Report
'Right To Work' vs. The American Dream
What has happened to the American Dream? Poll after poll shows Americans not just pessimistic that things will get better, but skeptical that things won't get worse. The cost of healthcare has sky-rocketed, while paychecks have shrunk. The price of food, utilities, and other essential needs has risen, while the value of our homes, IRAs, 401ks, and bank accounts have plummeted. Young people don't believe their living standards will meet, let alone exceed, those of their parents.
Even more tragically, the social covenant that made the American Dream such a shining beacon to the rest of the world is being undone by corporate-owned politicians hell-bent on dismantling FDR's 'New Deal.' The New Deal brought hope and strength to a depressed country by establishing a shared principle that no one inside our borders has to go it alone; we go forward as a common people, we strive for greatness as a UNITED states. We became a nation that not only rewarded individual excellence, but protected the right of workers to form unions and collectively bargain.
Republicans bitterly opposed the New Deal as an enemy of business back then and not much has changed; today's corporate pawns still want to destroy the New Deal and gut unions.
They made their first move in Wisconsin and are now suffering the backlash of recall elections. Then they got soundly smacked down in Ohio. But that hasn't stopped them--now they are trying to push legislation perversely misnamed "right to work" in various states, most notably Indiana.
Despite all the blatant lies, RTW laws do NOT create jobs or benefit communities. What they do (besides creating lower wages, fewer benefits, and weaker workplace protections) is force unions to represent freeloaders who refuse to pay their share of the costs. RTW makes it illegal for unionied workers to negotiate contracts requiring each employee to pay dues to cover the costs of negotiating and policing those contracts.
The theory behind this is simple: if unions don't have money from dues, their ability to organize and negotiate good contracts is severely ham-stringed. And that means lower wages and benefits that lead to lower standards of living, and the further deterioration of the American Dream. The Dream is no longer about the working class being able to own a home and put their kids through college; it's about big corporations squeezing every possible penny out of those workers' pockets so millionaires can become billionaires.
No matter what the source of the economic problems in this country, more people making less and less money is never going to fix them. In fact, the opposite is true: When more people (the 99%) have more money, they spend it on needed goods and services. That money re-enters the economy and flows into other people's pockets. They then spend it, and the cycle keeps repeating. The taxes that all these people pay support their community infrastructure and safety nets. The American Dream is exemplified at the local level. One per-cent of the population could simply never spend that same amount of money. Period.
If Americans want to re-establish the American Dream, defeating existing right-to-work legislation and opposing any future such legislation is paramount.
'Right To Work' vs. The American Dream
Even more tragically, the social covenant that made the American Dream such a shining beacon to the rest of the world is being undone by corporate-owned politicians hell-bent on dismantling FDR's 'New Deal.' The New Deal brought hope and strength to a depressed country by establishing a shared principle that no one inside our borders has to go it alone; we go forward as a common people, we strive for greatness as a UNITED states. We became a nation that not only rewarded individual excellence, but protected the right of workers to form unions and collectively bargain.
Republicans bitterly opposed the New Deal as an enemy of business back then and not much has changed; today's corporate pawns still want to destroy the New Deal and gut unions.
They made their first move in Wisconsin and are now suffering the backlash of recall elections. Then they got soundly smacked down in Ohio. But that hasn't stopped them--now they are trying to push legislation perversely misnamed "right to work" in various states, most notably Indiana.
Despite all the blatant lies, RTW laws do NOT create jobs or benefit communities. What they do (besides creating lower wages, fewer benefits, and weaker workplace protections) is force unions to represent freeloaders who refuse to pay their share of the costs. RTW makes it illegal for unionied workers to negotiate contracts requiring each employee to pay dues to cover the costs of negotiating and policing those contracts.
The theory behind this is simple: if unions don't have money from dues, their ability to organize and negotiate good contracts is severely ham-stringed. And that means lower wages and benefits that lead to lower standards of living, and the further deterioration of the American Dream. The Dream is no longer about the working class being able to own a home and put their kids through college; it's about big corporations squeezing every possible penny out of those workers' pockets so millionaires can become billionaires.
No matter what the source of the economic problems in this country, more people making less and less money is never going to fix them. In fact, the opposite is true: When more people (the 99%) have more money, they spend it on needed goods and services. That money re-enters the economy and flows into other people's pockets. They then spend it, and the cycle keeps repeating. The taxes that all these people pay support their community infrastructure and safety nets. The American Dream is exemplified at the local level. One per-cent of the population could simply never spend that same amount of money. Period.
If Americans want to re-establish the American Dream, defeating existing right-to-work legislation and opposing any future such legislation is paramount.