This is a little agitprop piece written for a local demonstration.
It is little wonder that Donald Trump and
I differ – after all, just like you, I have always worked for a living. Since he never held a job, he has little
understanding of the priorities of most Americans. What loyalty this man may possess on some
level goes to oligarchs like Elon Musk and, for some reason I do not think has
fully emerged, Putin’s Russia.
His entire program is harmful to the
interests of working people. Cuts in
education, health care, and social programs harm everybody and weaken America,
but the current administration has particular hostility to organized
labor.
Though unions are responsible (along with
the G. I. Bill) for creating the middle class in America, Trump and his fat cat
friends are determined to destroy them along with any other organization
advocating for the average citizen. He
was notorious as a business owner for failing to pay contractors and tradesmen. [1] In his opinion, wages are too high and
certainly should not be raised. [2] He
has stated that striking workers should be fired (though that action is
forbidden by law). [3] According to his
chief economic advisor, raising the minimum wage would be “a terrible idea.”
[4] His agent, Kristi Noem stripped TSA
workers of their collective bargaining rights a short time before he, by the
fiat of an executive order, stole union representation from two-thirds of
federal workers, though this has been temporarily stayed by a federal court.
[5] He fired the General Counsel of the
National Labor Relations Board and then dismissed as well one of the three
members, making it short of the required quorum to take any action. [6]
Vice-President Vance is equally hostile to
the interests of working people. Asa
senator he cosponsored the Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act which would
have substituted voluntary “employee involvement organizations” for labor
unions. These new groups would do no
collective bargaining and could be dissolved by an employer at will.
Meanwhile Musk, who had in past years been
cited for his anti-union activity at Tesla, has directed his DOGE to be
particularly aggressive in attacks on agencies that protect workers such as
OSHA, and the Mine Safety, and Disability units in the Department of Labor.
[7]
At another grave time for our nation, a
great American, Frederick Douglass said:
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it
never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have
found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon
them . . . The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom
they oppress.”
People can accomplish anything of they are
united. Let us talk to each other and
figure out together how to move forward to ensure a good quality of life now
and for future generations.
1. Among many
articles describing this habit, see NYT, June 11, 2016, "How Donald Trump
Bankrupted His Atlantic City Casinos, but Still Earned Millions."
2. Among a great many
stories, see NYT, November 11, 2015, “Donald Trump Insists That Wages Are ‘Too
High.’”
3. He was commenting
on a strike by the CWA. See the NYT,
August 13, 2024, “U.A.W. Files Labor Charges Against Trump and Musk Over
Interview.”
4. Washington Post.
November 1, 2018 “President Trump’s Top Economic Advisor Says a Federal Minimum
Wage is a Terrible Idea. A Terrible
Idea.”
5. The Department of
Homeland Security announced on March 7, 2025 that they no longer recognized the
collective bargaining rights of their employees. For Trump’s executive order, see the NYT
March 28 “Trump Moves to End Union Protections Across Broad Swath of
Government.” The legal challenge to this
decision was recently rejected by the Supreme Court.
6. See the NYT, January 28, 2025, “Trump Firings at Labor Board Paralyze the Agency.”
7. Meg Kinnard, AP
story, February 21, 2025 “A comprehensive look at DOGE’s firings and layoffs so
far.”
No comments:
Post a Comment