Solidarity should not just be when we are under attack, it needs to be all of the time.
Over the last two years in Wisconsin and in other states where worker's rights have come under attack we have learned one thing that can be summed up with the word
Solidarity. When the people and unions come together they are a formidable front in this war on the middle class. We may lose battles along the way; however, if we stay united we will win this war against the middle class.
Sadly, it appears that some unions have not learned this lesson. In New England, Vermont specifically, there is a movement to unionize home care workers. There are two unions, SEIU 1199 and AFSCME Council 93, vying to represent these workers and it is a dirty fight. Instead of each union being positive and stating why they are better for Vermont home care workers they are are sniping at each other through dueling websites and Facebook pages.
Both of these unions need to knock this crap off. It is hard enough to fight the anti-labor forces on the right, but to go after each other is even worse. The imagery being used is caustic at best and giving those opposed to organized labor even more red meat to go after.
These images are from the SEIU 1199 page:
And these are from the AFSCME Council 93 page:
While I find SEIU's images more offensive than AFSCME's I find the whole idea of two unions, who should be working in solidarity, fighting over membership this way to be a self-defeating action. What each union should do is go in and be positive, truthful, and honest as they present their cases to the membership and let the membership decide on the merits of their arguments. This back and forth sniping does nothing to further the cause of the labor movement—it is in fact a detriment to organized labor and we should be above this. This is exactly what those who are against unions want us to do, fight each other, which weakens us all so that they can come in and pick the meat off of whatever is left of the carcass.
We need to stand together in solidarity—not fight each other.