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| Mary Kay Henry, president of SEIU. |
John Nichols at the Nation offers a detailed analysis of the potential long-term national effects of the Wisconsin protests against Gov. Walker’s union-busting tactics, and Democrats had better listen up.
Nichols writes:
Mary Kay Henry had just spent a day talking with many of the thousands of Wisconsinites who had packed the State Capitol in Madison for the February protests against Republican Governor Scott Walker’s proposals to scrap collective bargaining rights and slash funding for public education and services. Now, as she waited in a legislative hearing room that had been turned into a makeshift studio for a Pennsylvania labor radio show, the new president of the 2.2 million–member Service Employees International Union was marveling at what she had seen. “It’s inspiring, so inspiring, but we have to pay attention to what’s happening here,” she said, in a calm, thoughtful voice. “We’ve got to take this national, and we’ve got to keep the spirit, the energy. We’ve got to do it right.”
Henry was not just speaking in the excitement of the moment. Even before the Wisconsin uprising and ensuing demonstrations in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Maine, SEIU had been drawing the outlines of a Fight for a Fair Economy campaign that would use the resources of the union to mobilize low-wage workers—be they union members or not—into a movement aimed at transforming a national debate that has been defined by conservative talking points and ginned-up Tea Party “populism.” After the frustrating experience of trying to get the Employee Free Choice Act through a supposedly friendly Congress in the first two years of President Obama’s administration, Henry and a growing number of labor leaders are coming to recognize that simply electing Democrats is not enough. A memo that circulated in January among members of the union’s executive board declared, “We can’t spark an organizing surge without changing the environment, so that workers see unions not as self-interested institutions but as vehicles through which they can collectively stand up for a more fair economy.”
I don't agree that this was an us versus them issue. That is how Fox and MSNBC portrayed it, and I think there was a valid middle ground that was never explored.
ReplyDeletewell that's where I'm at - the middle ground. I was there marching along with the other thousands, because I believe that it was an attempt to bust unions and I don't agree with that or Walker. at the same time, I believe that unions need reform. I've talked to countless people since then about the state of the American worker. one woman was the union steward at the now-closed Kenosha GM plant. she said that workers continually slept on the job and knew they didn't have to do anything because the union would protect them. I hear this same refrain over and over - horrible work ethics being fostered and protected by corrupt unions. I don't have an answer, but I'm convinced that reform is needed. Let's recognize that unions are necessary, but let us also recognize that it's time to change and correct those things that aren't doing anyone any good at all. There are several pieces to this puzzle - it isn't black and white. thanks for sharing this Virginia, and I'm happy that Katalusis is back!!! have a great day.
ReplyDeleteHi Becky,
ReplyDeleteSo great to hear from you again and as usual your comments are thoughtful and to the point. Thank you!