Unions Must Fight to Keep Their Grip!

Anti union laws spreading throughout the United States!
A recent article in USA today spoke to the issue of "OPEN SHOP Laws" that are being spread throughout this country. Open-Shop laws have been voted into law in more than 22 states so far. Open-Shop laws give workers the right to refuse to join unions in companies that once had mandatory participation by all employees. This article sited the State of Michigan and a Republican led initiative that would place unionization back many years. The Republicans state that due to a decline in economic growth and a lack of business expansion, the overall cost of the unionized workers has put business at a total disadvantage. Soaring healthcare costs are also at the top of a growing list of complaints by business in this country. As you may already know, the auto industry is the largest employer in this state. The vast majority of its workers are unionized and they are members of the UAW and the Teamsters. The respective leaders of these unions have refuted the claims in the article and point to America's trade agreements with countries like Japan, Korea and Mexico. To date the states that have open-shop laws are not really showing major improvement to their economy. Business profits are remaining as they were prior to the change in the law for the most part. One remaining constant is that the workers who have remained within the bargaining unit are still enjoying the benefits gained by union affiliation. Open-Shop laws must be fought every time they reel their ugly head in this country. They are designed to weaken and ultimately destroy unions in this country! Union leaders must educate their members on the benefits of becoming a part of the union. The article also speaks to the union member's dissatisfaction with its union leadership. It points out spending by local union leaders on specialty gift items. They also talk about the salaries of the union leaders. We as union members must not fall prey to this type of separatist rhetoric. This language is designed to split the members and then pit them against their leadership. While the -in fighting takes place, the company and its leaders are plotting to break the union. I have been a member of a union for more than 30 years and this type of union busting has caused me great alarm. Throughout my career I have seen so many arguments used by companies that want to end union affiliation on their properties. My fear is based in the belief that this country is doing everything it can to cut out the middle class. Most middle class workers in this country belong to unions and we owe our financial success to the fact that we are members of a union. Our homes, our children's education, and our careers can be attributed to our union affiliation. Many of us do not have college degrees or we might not have the technical where with all, still we enjoy salaries and benefits that have outpaced those workers who have the aforementioned backgrounds. Frankly I am tired of the bad rap that we are taking as union members by the employers of this country. We are blamed for the high wages paid by the employer, we are blamed for the high cost of healthcare, we are blamed, seemingly for anything that prohibits corporate profits! We must work to continue to support candidates that will uphold our right to organize! We must join and contribute to our unions C.O.P.E. funds so that our local can help the elected officials that are supportive of our agenda! We must join with other workers in this country who are being attacked by the "OPEN SHOP" laws, Their fight today could be our fight tomorrow! We must do all we can to support Universal Healthcare in this country! As union members we are accustomed to fighting for our rights, lets continue to fight the right fight! Lets work to put an end to "OPEN SHOP" laws in America!