May 1933: Hitler abolishes Unions; Oct 1982 Ronald Reagan: Unions are "an elemental human right"

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Friday February 25, 2011 · 3:23 PM PST

2011/02/25 · 15:23

I thought it would be interesting to share with you this article from newsjunkiepost.com. Please read the full article, it is very detailed and informative. I have taken excerpts from the first two and last two paragraphs to highlight what I think is the most important part, but I strongly encourage one and all to read the whole piece.

On May 2nd, 1933, the day after Labor day, Nazi groups occupied union halls and labor leaders were arrested. Trade Unions were outlawed by Adolf Hitler, while collective bargaining and the right to strike was abolished. This was the beginning of a consolidation of power by the fascist regime which systematically wiped out all opposition groups, starting with unions, liberals, socialists, and communists using Himmler’s state police.
Fast forward to America today, particularly Wisconsin. Governor Walker and the Republican/Tea Party members of the state legislature are attempting to pass a bill that would not only severely punish public unions (with exception for the police, fire, and state trooper unions that supported his campaign), but it would effectively end 50 years to the right of these workers to collectively bargain.

~snip~

Union busting measures by Republicans in Wisconsin this week have brought up some disturbing historical parallels to another sad chapter from human history. This writer is not trying to say that Republicans are Nazis and the Tea Party are their Brownshirts, only that the union busting, corporate control over the government is part of the definition of fascism (along with authoritarian nationalism).
The attacks on unions that are taking place in American society today echoes a very sad chapter in Western history where unions were smashed for the benefit of a far right authoritarian corporate regime. When Hitler abolished unions in 1933, it was followed by a 25% drop in real wages, and ended the ability of workers to protect living standards, and this is one of those times where history should not be allowed to repeat itself.

newsjunkiepost.com

A few of my own thoughts and more below the fold

Now far be it from me to compare people who support torture, spying on their fellow citizens, xenophobia, armed violence and union busting to the Nazi Party.

Ahem

Now here is the funny bit, even Ronald Reagan recognized that the rights to form a labor union and participate in union membership is "one of the most elemental human rights"

During his Christmas address to the nation on December 23, 1981, President Reagan condemned the Soviet-backed Polish crackdowns on labor unions, promoting the “basic right of free trade unions and to strike”:
In a radio address given the following October, the former president escalated his rhetoric. Reagan condemned the Polish government’s outlawing of Solidarity, and attacked it for making it “clear they never had any intention of restoring one of the most elemental human rights — the right to belong to a free trade union”:

REAGAN: Ever since martial law was brutally imposed last December, Polish authorities have been assuring the world that they’re interested in a genuine reconciliation with the Polish people. But the Polish regime’s action yesterday reveals the hollowness of its promises. By outlawing Solidarity, a free trade organization to which an overwhelming majority of Polish workers and farmers belong, they have made it clear that they never had any intention of restoring one of the most elemental human rights—the right to belong to a free trade union.

So here is my question to conservatives and libertarians, whose side are you on on union rights? Ronald Reagan or Hitler?

Seriously, WTF?

Poll
406 votes Show Results
Whose side is the modern GOP on when the rights to unionize are questioned

Ronald Reagan

Hitler

yes, I went there, because the histroical context is important

pie

406 votes Vote Now!
Whose side is the modern GOP on when the rights to unionize are questioned

Ronald Reagan

6%

26 votes

Hitler

236 votes

yes, I went there, because the histroical context is important

116 votes

pie

7%

28 votes

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May 1933: Hitler abolishes Unions; Oct 1982 Ronald Reagan: Unions are "an elemental human right"

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