An argument can be made....

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A local Fargo ND newspaper "reporter" recites that phrase today as part of a cautionary opinion piece about the local union which has been locked out of work at American Crystal Sugar:

An argument can be made that the aggressive behavior of unions is why so many jobs have been shipped overseas.

Ironic really, coming—as the Forum staffer's opining does—in the same section as the editorial page editor's mocking column about the end-of-days caller who also had a totally self-selected spin on reality.

But in the spirit of the reporter's educating us rubes who didn't come by way of the Rust Belt or the Big Oil/Bible Belt, I have a few arguments that also can be made.

Yep. An argument can be made that the moon is made of green cheese.

And since we're talking about jobs and workers and lockouts and how workers oughta smarten up and take what's offered to them, here's another argument that can be made:

Workers should go back to working for room and board, and for the hours the managers want to assign them. Dark to dark is good. Oh, and family values urges we keep whole families out there working on those sugar beet piles like they used to work in the fields. An argument can be made.

Heck, while we're at it, there's no need for running water or electricity for those workers' homes ... all that electrification stuff, that's socialist, and we don't need socialism in this country. An argument can be made.

On the other hand, an argument can be made that the attitude the Forum reporter and the American Crystal manager espouse is what is killing the middle class ... and has been since Reagan fired the air traffic controllers and unions discovered what happens when unions cave and break ranks. Michael Moore's making that argument.

And there's one more argument that can be made: standing on the sidelines can't be an option anymore. We're all in this country together, and there are those first three words. We, the people. We each must participate or we get the government, we get the leadership, we get the community we deserve.

So. An argument can be made that as a responsible member of my community who sees injustice in action in the American Crystal lockout, I must choose to boycott the brand.

And yes, I am. While American Crystal chooses to lockout, I choose to leave out American Crystal from my shopping list.
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crossposted at firedoglake/MyFDL
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Remember to Thank a Union

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If you've got the weekend off. If you've got health care for your family. If you consider yourself part of the middle class, even if times are tough...thank a union.

In the words of two plain-spoken Maine Republicans, America needs the Employee Free Choice Act [no matter what George McGovern and Warren Buffet may say]. America needs workers who are protected by the bargaining power of unions.

Who brought us the weekend? Unions. Who rose with unions? The middle class. It just makes sense. Tens of millions of workers would join a union if they could. The problem is that if they try, and their employer resists, workers have only about a 20 percent chance of success.

This is because the current system for forming a union is unfairly tilted in the employer's favor.

That's just wrong. It's un-American and one more example of greed and power run amok.

So while you're out and about this weekend, one of the 90% still employed but enjoying your weekend...do more than thank a union. Drop a note to your congresspersons and ask them for speedy passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.

This appeal in honor of my original hero union man, my dad, a lifelong member of the IBEW, and for my son who just learned that picket lines and striking for workers' rights aren't just the stuff of dissertations, but real life challenges whatever the outcome.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Vote with your Feet

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MSNBC reporting this morning that WalMart has injected its corporate self into the presidential campaign. Warning its employees not to support the Democratic candidate because that'll bring unionization.

Response expected from unions later today.

I expect the strongest response to come from Hillary Clinton, former board member of WalMart. Will she live up to my expectations?

The full force of corporatist politics are in play this campaign season, it will be an "epic battle" just trying to succeed on November 4, much less restore We, the People instead of We, the Corporations to governing policy.

But there's one easy choice I can make right now, even before election day...so can you.

Vote with your feet.

Good-bye to WalMart and Sam's Club. Good buys available somewhere else. I'm kinda partial to the same place Michelle Obama shops. Target. How 'bout you?
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