We Need to Start Calling "Right to Work" Legislation by What it Really Is

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Sunday January 22, 2017 · 1:52 PM PST

2017/01/22 · 13:52

For decades, the Republicans have have been masters at framing issues in such a way that Democrats and our progressive allies look bad when we try to oppose their proposals. There are dozens of examples of this, but I just want to focus on just one — the so-called “Right to Work” legislation.

As you may know, this legislation purportedly bans the practice of requiring employees to join a union where there is a union contract. This practice, however, was banned by the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. What it really does is forbid unions to charge employees for union services, such as contract negotiations, grievance arbitration, and other services even though they are required by a decision of the Supreme Court to provide such services even to non-union employees. Calling this legislation "right to work," therefore, sets a well-crafted trap for unions and their progressive supporters, because as long as they fight this legislation without changing the way the issue is framed, the low-information voter is going to wonder why unions are fighting against his/her right to work.

The unions argue against the legislation by saying that it's really a right to work for less. That hasn't worked, however, because people don't really care if they're working for less as long as they're working. Just look at all the people who work for Walmart, McDonald's, or any other low-wage employer. Furthermore, the explanation for how this legislation leads to working for less cannot be distilled down to a simple sound bite. It requires discussion about studies and statistics and other boring facts. I heard such a discussion and even I had found it to be a good cure for insomnia. I can only imagine, therefore how much worse such a discussion would be for someone who hardly pays attention to politics.

We must, therefore, change the frame by calling this legislation what it really is - a Right to Freeload; a right for an employee to receive potentially expensive services for free. Calling it a right to freeload immediately puts us on the offensive. Nobody likes freeloaders, and we can point out the hypocrisy of the Republicans who rail against the “freeloaders” on welfare, but have no problem with freeloading workers who benefit from union services without paying for them.

I have been told by many people, including legislators and union leaders, that we can't change the frame, because we would only succeed in confusing people. Such timidity, in my opinion, is why we keep losing. The Republicans keep talking about the "Death Tax," not caring that its official name is the Inheritance Tax and had been called that for years. Thus they succeeded in changing the frame of that issue. With bold determination and discipline we can do the same for the Right to Freeload legislation and ultimately defeat it.

In my view, however, time for defeating this damaging legislation is rapidly running out. More and more state legislatures are passing their own versions of it, and it is only a matter of time, with the Republican Congress and Donald Trump hell bent on destroying organized labor, before freeloading off the backs of unions becomes permissible everywhere.

The DNC Establishment and its Neo-Liberal Corporate Agenda Must Go

landroval

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Friday November 11, 2016 · 6:50 PM PST

2016/11/11 · 18:50

I am just livid with rage! Tuesday’s election results make me want to scream my bloody head off! The Democratic Party had a candidate who would have destroyed Donald Trump; a candidate who had zero negatives, a candidate who drew crowds in the tens of thousands and raised millions of dollars without donations from big money; a candidate who was widely admired for his honesty and integrity. But the corporate establishment of the Party wouldn’t have it. They had to have their good ol’ boy (girl?) in there to carry on their neo-liberal corporate agenda.

Many of my friends are incredulous at this turn of events. “What is wrong with these people [Trump supporters]?” one friend asked. I’ll tell you what is wrong with them. They’re being screwed and they’re angry! Did any of the bankers on Wall Street who defrauded thousands of people out of their homes and nearly ruined the economy - did any of them get sent to jail? Was any one of them even put on trial? No!

In the Fall, 2016 issue of The American Prospect Robert Kuttner wrote a review of several books which delve into the reasons why the Republicans and the Tea Party have been so successful in getting people to vote against their own self-interest. The following paragraph, a quote from an interview of a man living in the bayous of Western Louisiana, sums up their situation well:

“The state always seems to come down on the little guy. Take this bayou. If your motorboat leaks a little gas into the water, the warden’ll write you up. But if companies leak thousands of gallons of it and kill all the life here? The state lets them go. If you shoot an endangered brown pelican, they’ll put you in jail. But if a company kills the brown pelican by poisoning the fish he eats? They let it go. I think they overregulate the bottom because it’s harder to regulate the top.”

For decades the Republican Party has played upon this anger like a violin, and the Tea Party has taken the playing to a virtuosic level. Thus, they’ve successfully diverted it towards “others” - African Americans, Latinos, Muslims, and other “different” people - making them afraid of and angry at these “others.” I am reminded of the story about a white male, an African American (or some other “different” person), and a wealthy CEO sitting at a table. Upon the table there’s a package of twelve cookies. The CEO grabs ten of the cookies and then warns the white male, “Watch out for that “different” guy. He’s going to steal your cookie.”

The Democratic Party, unfortunately, has consistently failed to deal with this deception because the leadership is either blind or they are too afraid of alienating their own corporate friends. As a result, instead of pointing out who the real culprit behind the misery from which the poor suffer, the Party admonishes them and scolds them for their racism and misogyny. To make matters worse, we ridicule and insult them (and by we, I do include myself and other progressives who should know better), thus increasing their feelings of isolation and victimhood.

To be clear, I am not holding the Tea Partiers and Trump supporters totally blameless. They aren’t, and some of them are truly evil. I do, however, have a better understanding now of where they’re coming from and believe that we need to talk with them and listen to them instead of talking and shouting at them.

Bernie understands this, and his populism spoke to them. Thus, he was able to generate huge crowds even in the Deep South and probably could have won at least a few states down there. He certainly would have won all the rust belt states. The Democratic Party Establishment, however, would have none of it. I’m not saying that the nomination was stolen, as many of my fellow Bernie supporters claim; but they did everything they could short of that to successfully prevent Bernie from winning the nomination - and now look what we’ve got.

This is why I am in such a rage. They have been leading the Party down a very destructive road for far too long. Therefore, just as Bernie shouts at the government and it’s corporate owners, it is high time that those of us from the democratic wing of the Democratic Party, who cherish the time when our Party was truly the Party of the People, to rise up and shout from the roof tops at the Party Establishment. “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!” Your time for twisting and distorting the true message of the Democratic Party is OVER!”

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