Thom Hartmann: Republicans have found a new way to screw working people

[thomhartmann]

Run time: 07:40 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrdcC76s6NY   Posted on YouTube: June 03, 2011 By YouTube Member: TheBigPictureRT Views on YouTube: 26   Posted on DU: June 03, 2011 By DU Member: thomhartmann Views on DU: 766

 
The war on labor continues. House Republicans are opening up a new front against
federal labor unions - going after something called "official time." "Official
time" is a phrase used to describe the time federal workers who are also union
representatives do union work like bargaining and meeting with employees, while
still getting a paycheck for their federal job. So is "official time" REALLY a
problem for taxpayers - or are Republicans just looking for another way to take
a whack at unionized government workers ahead of the 2012 election? w/ Dan
Gainor, Business and Media Institute

The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann on RT TV & FSTV "live" 9pm and 11pm check
www.thomhartmann.com/tv for local listings

[PATRICK]

1. A little history

My Dad was a labor leader and eventually "official time" got worked into his job description because even management wanted problems resolved and enough of the extra stick against the union rep for "not getting the job done". It was a won right and probably hard won at that. Everything to do with grievances, contract violations and many day to day problems made the sprawling geography a full time job, the legal procedures increasingly so. One point in favor of it for management is that it began to physically remove the union officer from contact with the rank and file in the work place.

Essentially by returning back they think to get the extra benefit of crippling the union at a time when the rep job itself with its lengthier and more sophisticated grievance process cannot be done by an employee hanging on to an increased work load job. It would take years of excessive damage, business and/or union destruction when management realizes the contract cops are gone to undo the damage this time.

The good old days when dad was a starting employee. You sat on a bench in uniform all day, unpaid, waiting for a temp assignment. Next, as a full time employee with very low pay, low benefits compared to the restrained generosity of private business, you worked under a very politicized management(by ruling party appointment). The fatal flaw was that simply because DC ruled all, the nationwide workers' union with its outreach to citizens everywhere(Hatch Act notwithstanding)forged union people into expert lobbyists and political activists and political bargainers. The pols eventually cried uncle and let go of the Postal Service into a separate enterprise, albeit hampered by the fairly detrimental rule of the politically appointed Board of Governors.

As far as unions go, compared to the private sector which is allowed to make investment profits for its owners, we tread water and survive as long as the public(and business)service is needed. That seems like a gigantic entitlement to the bastards of course. In their grim vision, the grand old days of pols sucking the revenue dry would be completed by breaking up the universal service into profitable tatters to enrich a very few and create insecure low benefit low wage jobs out of current decent jobs.

[List left]

2. ultimately all workers have an adversarial relationship with their bosses

Ultimately all workers have an adversarial relationship with their bosses?
when this is the model no wonder things are screwed up?

[Newest Reality]

3. Dan Gainor

is a good example of using techniques, (word games) to alter and shape public opinion. In contrast to Thom Hartmann, though, that becomes transparent. On the dominant, corporate media propaganda outlets, they sculpt the dialogue in a way that supports and emphasizes the message of corporatism.

What nullifies the "not with my tax dollars" drivel, are the billions and billions of dollars of our wealth that go into the official funnels and slots designated to corporations and the interests of wealth, currently.

We subsidize corporations and agribusiness farming. We pour a significant amount of the National Wealth into occupations and military aggression which, in effect, supports the very lucrative defense contractor sector. We incarcerate so many people here that millions of dollars are spent keeping people locked-up -- and that also funds the private prison industry which is growing.

That is the short list. It goes on and on.

Those are significant expenditures where "our tax dollars" are spent without any viable representation of our opinions or critical needs, especially in a crises.

So, we see talking heads who, like fiction writers, who come to the carnival to bark crafted prose designed to distract us all and keep the message pointed at trivial expenditures compared to the largess of other, questionable budgets.

That is the place to stand firm, hold tight, and revolt using the courage born of knowledge. How long will the Great Mind Wash continue unabated? Well, as long as we are buying the "product" individually and collectively.

[tndk90]

4. Great job saying it straight to his face...

Republicans like to frame the debate around caricatures instead of the substance. Instead of talking jobs creation, they talk about deficit control (as if cutting government spending is going to create a single job). They have a base that thinks government can't do anything for you and that government is the ultimate anti-job creation evil, but the Republicans want the keys to the government to create jobs. The hypocrisy extends to this issue: they oppose unions because they cost money (meaning better pay and benefits for workers), but they promote better jobs? They need to pick which side of the fence they want to be on, but it is too convenient for them to say anything to get a vote and re-frame the issue around their chosen frame.