The Republican Rush to Kill the Unions

By TRB

To understand the attack against unions by Republicans in Wisconsin yesterday, one must first understand the Republican vision of Americans' future. In that future, corporations make the final call on all work-related conditions, regarding wages, time worked, safety, etc In short, the corporation will make all the decisions regarding workers who will no longer play a part in collective bargaining. U.S. citizens who do not hold union jobs or perhaps believe union jobs work against workers rights will soon discover just how wrong they were.

If this end-around decision financed by the billionaire Koch brothers, to kill collective bargaining for union workers holds up, soon non-union workers will discover that the unions were carrying their water for them. Namely that the non-union worker can thank the unions for most of the benefits the non-union worker received, Their employers had to keep them happy with these extra benefits so they wouldn't join the union. With weaker or no unions to join, there will no longer be any incentive for the corporation to give the non-union workers special treatment. So, whether he or she knows it our not, the non-union worker lost just as badly in Wisconsin yesterday.

Unions have to go if the ultimate plan of the Republican Party is to be realized,i.e., to take rights from the people and to make the people insignificant in the power structure that is the corporate U.S. In the Republican's vision every public meeting that would allow any power to the people that might negatively impact what a corporation wants to do will be abolished by the Republicans

Ironically the unions in Wisconsin have argued that the collective bargaining  right should not be in the state budget because it rarely has an impact on that budget, while the Republicans have insisted on it. Then Republicans found a way to separate it out where they wouldn't need the quorum provided by the Democrats who had left the state, and the Republicans voted 18 - 1 to destroy collective bargaining.

Like most journalists yesterday, I thought the Wisconsin Republicans would have to negotiate with the public unions before this issue came to a close - and they still might have to. On the other hand I did not expect the Republicans to separate the union bill from the budget so they wouldn't need a quorum to vote it though. Apparently they might have broken some laws in doing this. But time will tell.

The Republican hidden agenda is to privatize America, turn it over to corporations - including your hometown. You will lose most of your rights under the Republicans, which is okay if you don't want them, and, when the first Republican corporate city comes to life you can be assured of at least one thing: You will never have to vote.