Someone asked me the other day what I thought the country will be like when the unions are all gone. While I shuddered at the thought of a whole country of WalMart workers, it bothered me that he assumed that the unions were finished. He said that it worried him that big banks and multinational companies were buying Washington and he thought big money will take what’s left from the middle class. He felt the unions were doomed.
I couldn’t agree more that corporations and billionaires have gotten to nearly every politician in Washington. Every one. But I did disagree that the unions were finished. In fact, I think unionism is on the verge of a comeback. There is a great article in The NATION about Unions getting their groove back.
Here’s a little sample:
Making Unions Matter Again
“…. unions should plan direct actions with workers that respond to the issues facing them. How about taking over the offices of big credit-rating agencies and occupying them 24/7 by the thousands until they agree to erase all the bad credit heaped on anyone who has made a late mortgage payment because they lost their job or their hours were cut back?”