Today, February 18, 2008, is President's Day where we are among the fortunate few that don't have to go to our jobs today. In the last 60 days, I have seen Bill Clinton shmooze my national APWU president, William Burrus. I have also witnessed Hillary Clinton cozy up to William "Poodlehead" Young, president of the NALC. Here is an interesting video I received in my personal e-mail. It was originally aired on ABC News. It is of Hillary as a board of director member of Wal-Mart. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4218509&page=1 Notice, how she spoke not a word as the union organizer wanted to work with Wal-Mart. As you can tell, I will not be casting my vote for Hillary.

 Meanwhile, I feel like I am watching a tag team match on CNN - Bill and Hillary vs. Obama and Oprah. Barack actually spoke with the CPWU President via telephone for a few minutes on CPWU's podcast. http://www.cpwu.org/blog_radio.htm When you get to Obama's conversation he only mentions that we need change. He never explains how this change is going to happen - just that we need change. Good point, Barack! I recently put my dollar bill in the soda machine and got change. Change is good!

 So now we are left with John McCain and Mike Huckabee. A notorious McCain comment in Michigan (you know, the state where they banned "The Wave" because two Wolverines drowned.) Sen. McCain states, " Today's unions are ruining America's economy and countries like China and India are succeeding in the world market because of low wages." Enough said.

Now, I am only left with Mike Huckabee. My parents were victims of Katrina two years ago in New Orleans. One of the major reasons I like Mike Huckabee is his love and concern for all people of all colors and his great work for helping the many Katrina victims when he was governor of Arkansas, without any help from the federal government. There was no fanfare, no cameras, just excellent caring with a will to help the folks. Plus coupled with the fact that Mike Huckabee was the only candidate that bothered to show up on BET's (Black Entertainment Television's) presidential debates. Clinton, Obama and McCain apparently thinks that BET isn't good enough for them like CNN, FOX, ABC or CBS and that is totally unexceptable. The host, Tavis Smiley, is stuck having a one-on-one dialogue with Huckabee. One subject that arose on this "debate" turned into "monologue" was the disintegration of our unions.

Our union membership has sharply fallen. In the 1950s, approximately 35% of the workforce belonged to a union and today that figure is 12%. Obviously, the biggest roadblock was the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act which , with its huge restrictions on union activities, has proven to be a genuine impediment to the labor movement. The decline of the country's manufacturing base and, with it, a decline in those industry jobs which, historically, had not only been strongly organized but well paid, like the automotive and steel industries. When you lose your base you can't expect to maintain your membership.


Government has taken over major union provisions. From overtime pay to hours of work, to guaranteed days off and employees' rights and standards, laws have been passed by the state and federal governments to address such issues. Government has effectively co-opted much of what only union contracts used to do. At one time, you had to be a union member to get overtime pay and now there are federal statutes governing this. At one time, union contracts stipulated safety, Now with the passage of OSHA in 1970, the unions are not needed as much. Many non-union companies are matching the benefits of unionized companies to keep the organizers away. What hurts the most in these cases is that the people ("free riders") receiving these comparable wages and benefits think they're making it on their own, without having to rely on a union. In truth, without the existence of unions, there's no telling how low base wages for unskilled blue-collar work would fall, with nothing to prop them up except the  minimum wage law and this includes the Postal Service as well.

There is also less respect for union leaders and it's workers as well. At one time, Samuel Gompers was hailed as a hero. Now we are stuck with stories about Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance. There was a time when Labor Day had large parades through town, now we just sit at home drinking beer and watching the Jerry Lewis Telethon. Or when union workers picketed their workplace and the police were summoned, the cops would watch for a few minutes because they had deep-seated sympathy for the protestors. Today, they are treated as contemptable trespassers and they are arrested  on the spot.

With all of the current jokes wafting around like what is UAW? U Ain't Working or what is APWU? Alcoholics, Prostitutes and Whores Union - you get the idea.

Because working people like ourselves don't have the core respect we once had. It's as simple as that.