LTE: Unions Are Under Attack Here In New Hampshire And Nationwide

[Omaha Steve]

http://nhlabornews.com/2014/04/lte-unions-are-under-attack-here-in-new-hampshire-and-nationwide/

By NH Labor | April 15, 2014



By Steve Koppenburg

Since the 2010 elections, the attacks have become brutal. Extreme right-wing legislatures in the traditionally union states of Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin have been dismantling collective bargaining protections and imposing Right To Work laws. In the south, state and federal legislators actively work to keep unions out of their states. The efforts to kill unions are extremely well-financed by billionaire think tanks and corporations co-opting weak legislators and using union busting firms.

This is class warfare and if they win it will be class decimation. Unions have historically been the firewall for the middle class. As the union goes, the middle class goes. The unions are shrinking, the middle class is shrinking and the country is sinking into a society of “haves”, “have-nots” and, for the next generation, “haven’t a chance.”

Across the country, fast food and retail workers — specifically McDonald’s and Walmart workers — are standing up to fight for their rights. They face retaliation up to and including being terminated from their jobs.

We do have victories. RTW was beaten back in NH, but we must remain ever vigilant though against the further attacks that will come. In Los Angeles, the Port Truck Drivers just won a settlement reclassifying them from independent contractors to employees, allowing them to unionize. Student athletes at Northwestern University won the right to be classified employees of the NCAA, and the right to unionize. UPS, in a negotiated settlement with the Teamsters, have rehired 251 wrongfully terminated drivers. In Tennessee reports are surfacing that VW wants the UAW to represent its workers. The UAW has subpoenaed both state and federal legislators to an NLRB hearing on their interference in the union vote in the plant.

FULL story at link.

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About NH Labor

The New Hampshire Labor News is a group of NH Workers who believe that we need to protect ourselves against the attacks on workers. We are proud union members who are working to preserve the middle class. The NHLN talks mostly about news and politics from NH. We also talk about national issues that effect working men and women here in the Granite State.

[Sherman A1]

1. K&R

Thanks for posting.

[SevenSixtyTwo]

2. Whatever you do

for a living, be the best you can be at it. And bargain collectively for the best pay and benefits you can get for your job well done. Be reasonable, be real and be assertive. The companies we work for want to minimize labor costs. That's understandable. We want the most we can get for the services we provide our employers. Everyone does. It's not personal, it's business. It's up to us.