Daily Kos: Let's Lower Our Expectations; or Who Cares About Workers?

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/12/4/141926/425/869/669336

If your a Koser, please R this over there.

by 4workers
Thu Dec 04, 2008 at 11:39:55 AM PST

At a rally to organize workers at a supermarket chain recently, a woman stopped as I gave her a leaflet. When I told her that part time workers at this chain didn't have any health care, she shook her head, and I expected her to sympathize.

Instead, she said, "Health care? Who has health care? They should be glad they have a job at all. It’s unions that are killing this country, trying to make all these demands of companies and dragging them under."

Yes, I thought to myself, all these demands like affordable health care—-demands like a secure retirement—-demands like a wage workers can live on with dignity, that lets them pay the bills and put food on the table for their families.

Demands like these aren't killing America. In fact, they’re the only thing that can save us...

* 4workers's diary :: ::
*

When Lehman Brothers failed, I didn't hear talk about how the employees (not the execs, but the employees)there made too much, needed to accept less, didn't need these "legacy benefits" like health care. And I'll bet a lot of them made more than the average auto worker.

But now that it's blue collar auto workers in trouble, all we hear is that they need lower expectations, to be more competitive with foreign workers—-and that unions, especially, are in the way of that competitiveness. This despite the concessions the UAW made and is continuing to make in the spirit of "we’re all in this together-ness."

FULL article at link.

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Humans in the third world have been dealing with this kind of inequity

forever. Haves & Have-nots. Welcome to the "everybody for themselves" third world, USA.

[amdezurik]

2. heh I do not visit that hate-site

good read however. too bad he/she choose that outlet for it.

[bbgrunt]

3. it is astounding that they are

reporting that over 60% are against the loan to the auto companies. The solidarity needed to keep the middle class has been brainwashed away. I guess we ARE ready to become a third world nation. very sad.

[rhett o rick]

4. But what isn't being recognize is that most of those middle class people would support the bailout

(and it's a bailout even if it is a loan) of the auto workers if it was part of a package to bailout the rest of the middle class. Nothing is being said about the huge numbers losing their homes or that are unemployed. Giving the auto companies money won't help the workers very much anyway. What the auto workers need and everyone needs is more production jobs. With out more jobs, throwing money at the failed companies is worthless. Maybe the government, that's you and me, should buy a couple of million electric cars from the auto makers. We will pay up front. Then sell them to the public at half price. Bottom line is that we need more Americans working so they can afford new cars.

But first fire all the management of all three companies.

And fire Paulson and his sidekick.

[Hydra]

5. We already are a third world nation

And ironically, it's the people who were middle class without the unions that made it possible. They didn't understand that their "god given right" to succeed never existed and they spent their time pissing on people who were worse off than them, without realizing that that easily could have been them in that position.

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.