Again, I believe the main problem with unions is perception. Unions are democratic and populist. The Air Traffic Controllers' union was strongly Republican right until the end, when Reagan fired them all for striking. Unions aren't any one particular party, and the individual members, by definition, have unique beliefs.
President Reagan was an ardent foe of Communism, and a one time union leader. He supported unions and the Solidarity movement in Poland because he realized that a populist union movement would be able to remove a repressive and authoritarian regime. Bush is one of the most anti-union Presidents for the same reason. In Iraq, Bush appointed Paul Bremmer who promptly outlawed unions. The current Bush supported Government has frozen the assets of the nascent oil field workers union. God forbid that the people of Iraq would join together for mutual benefit. Better to have sectarian violence.
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President Reagan was also a supporter of Employee Stock Ownership Plans. This version of an Ownership Society, is very different from the more recent neo-con schemes. Unions with ESOP's become both owner and worker, leading them to balance their interests. ESOP's also are substantially better than Stock Participation Plans because ESOP's focus on long term results rather than short term profits. They also allow the employees to pool their stockholder votes to ensure that the board is acting in the best interests of the company and shareholders, not in the best interests of upper management.
Unions are what the employees make them. They can be capitalist and still benefit their local communities and society. Unions are democratic, and elect leaders based on a majority vote. When the majority is ill-informed they will make poor decisions.
"If the nation expects to be ignorant and free they expect what never was and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson (courtesy of Project Vote Smart www.vote-smart.org) This is as true for unions of people, as it is for unions of states. We fail at times to make good choices, and so do unions. But democracy is the best system we have, and we must continue to exercise it as a nation. We should also preserve democracy for employees by stopping the Bush administration from further crippling unions. Use the links below to quickly send an email to your congressman protesting the Bush administration's planned implementation of the Kentucky River Decision which takes away the right to organize from 8 million Americans by reclassifying them as supervisors. Support the Employee Free Choice Act to add penalties to the abused and poorly enforced 71-year old National Labor Relations Act. Don't let the Bush administration take away our rights, simply so they can weaken the strongest supporters of the Democrats.
Please support the bipartisan Employee Free Choice Act!
Protest Kentucky River decision at NLRB
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