If someone else has already posted a diary about this, please accept my humble apology. I did in fact run a search on recent diaries posted here on DK before I published this, but did not find any results. In any event, I wanted to share a video clip from last week’s run of the Ed Show on MSNBC which nicely highlights one of the key purposes of unions. The words come from Captain Chesley Sullenberger, who of course was the pilot of the crew that safely landed the US Airways Airbus a couple of years ago on the Hudson River after losing power in both engines due to a "bird-strike". His comments are within the context of his opposition to a proposed GOP congressional amendment to freeze FAA safety rules. However, at around 4:50:00 in the clip, Ed Schultz invites “Sully” to make a comment about unions and collective bargaining. In a calm, intelligent and concise manner, Captain Sullenberger very nicely nails down the fundamental purpose of unions which is to provide workers with a voice at work. He says something to the effect that no individual can expect to stand up to the power of management in any organization. Bingo … please give that man a prize! I have never heard the fundamental idea that a union is the only way of providing workers with an effective voice in the workplace expressed either so well or in so few words. As Captain Sullenberger hails originally from Denison, Texas and spent part of his earlier career flying F-4 Phantoms in the US Air Force prior to becoming a commercial airline pilot, I am guessing that he doesn't spend too much of his time reading Das Kapital to interpret the deeper philosophical meanings of the Marxist dialectic (not that I would have a problem if he did). Of course his background would be of no concern to the Limbaughs, Becks, Walkers and Kochs of the world who would, in a heartbeat, happily try to paint him as some sort of crazy mixed-up dope-smoking freedom-hating flag-burning radical if they thought they could get away with it. However, I am more than happy to let the Tea Partiers keep the Limbaughs, Becks, Walkers and Kochs of the world on their side and have people such as Captain Sullenberger, proud union man and true American hero, along with millions of other hard working union sisters and brothers stand on ours. Solidarity!
The link to this clip can be found at (please don’t choke too hard at the irony if the 30-second Delta Airlines ad comes up prior to the video):
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...