Unions, and the stories I didn't tell.
I am a "senior citizen" that failed to tell my children what my father along with many many others had to endure without unions.
Our children learn from our stories. Stories we tell them when they are young. It saddens me beyond belief that millions and millions of people are walking around having no idea the value of a union because they never heard why unions contribute to the quality of life, the clean, safe lives they live today.
I am so sorry that....
I never told my children that before there was a teacher's union, if a married female teacher got pregnant, she would lose her job because the administrators didn't want the students to see a pregnant woman.
I never told my children that before their grandfather worked in a union shop, he was fired for no cause, because the the foreman's hated "dagos" and his brother needed a job.
I never told my children how I remember my father being on strike with no money coming in the house for 105 days. Contract negotiation's were failing and the company hoped the employees would turn on the union.
I never told my children that when their grandfather got cancer and returned to work physically unable to work on the assembly line, the union fought for him to be reassigned to another task. This ended up being a job that he worked at successfully for 11 years until he could take an early retirement at 55.
I never told my children that when I belonged to a union, the union defended my right to work conditions, because the company was 6 months behind in moving my desk out of the windowless storage room that was supposed to be for only a "temporary 3 weeks."
At some level, I feel responsible at what took place in Michigan yesterday.
I am afraid that Mich. Gov. Snyder learned from what happened during the anti-union fight Ohio Gov. Kasich had with public employees. I am afraid that when Ohio workers prevailed, and turned back the SB5 legislation at the ballot box, that gave Snyder the idea to write into the anti-union bill a anti-referendum clause, effectively silencing Michigan voters.
I am afraid that Ohio Gov. Kasich has watched Michigan closely, and is hatching a new plan to attack unions.
I hope and pray that Michigan union workers speak loud and clear by immediately going on a state-wide wildcat strike. This story I will not fail to tell.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Something I began to realize in twelve years ago today, with Bush vs. Gore.
We may not always have a voice or a vote in elections. Social Security protection. Medicare protection. Public schools. The Commons. Democracy.
Throughout the years, Democrats have not made it clear with our children, our friends, or even our fellow Dems what it means to be a Democrat. What Democracy is. What the Democratic Party stands for.
Many of us just took for granted that any sane person with a heart and a brain would logically understand, figure it out, and vote accordingly. Sometimes it takes years to see the results of the Death by a Thousand Cuts that "the common people" have been dealt for decades. By the time we notice, the damage is almost irrevocable. Hard to do a lot about it once the media, the judiciary, congressional integrity, and the election process have become morally corrupt. And a lot of our population has been conditioned (or "trained"
to react viscerally and irrationally in a way that has developed in a slow and almost undetectable manner. It's the frog-in-the-kettle effect.
So it's not just you, Ninga. We've all done it - whether it's about unions or any other part of the democratic process.
The important part now, as you stated in closing, is that we've got to keep people informed about it while we still can. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
on....thinking its never too late.
Our family has deep roots in the union movement.
My generation of offspring are becoming the dinosaurs of the union movement and we must get back to telling our stories.
