On Labor

By C. T. Weber

Posted on March 16, 2011 by the Website Workers Council

Remember the so called sneak attack on Pearl Harbor? That awakened a sleeping giant, the United States of America. Well the sneak attack on state workers in Wisconsin may have just awakened another sleeping giant, the working class. This is a fight for unity among all workers whether organized into unions or not. When the wages, benefits and working conditions for the organized workers decline they push the wages, benefits and working conditions of the unorganized workers further down as well. Remember the Mexican victory at the Alamo in Texas? A loud rallying cry went out across the country. "Remember the Alamo!". It changed the tide of the war. Now we have another rallying cry, "Remember Wisconsin!". Hopefully, that will now change the tide of the class war that has been waged against us for the last 50 plus years.

Rank and file workers are upset, to put it mildly, with both the Republican and Democratic parties approach of blaming the workers for the states failure. The Republicans come out and say it, "Cut the wages, cut the benefits and cut the pensions of government workers." They also want to cut social security. On the other hand, the Democrats say it's not the workers fault, but there is no money and therefore we must slow down but not stop the cuts to social services by raising regressive taxes that are aimed at us.

Working people are waking up to this good cop, bad cop routine. There is another way. Take back what the super rich and their corporations and their financial institutions have stolen from us over the years by having "their" politicians, which they invested in heavily, vote to shift the tax burden from those who profit from this system of greed back to us. We have been in a class war and we never knew it. Every time the working people asked for their due, the rich cried that we were engaging in class war.

My friends, we do not have to pay for the bailout of the scoundrels and cheats. We are still the richest country in the world and our workers out produce the rest of the world. Our problem is that our elected representatives do not adequately represent us. Instead they take it out on the workers, the poor, the children, the elderly, the handicapped and anyone else they think is helpless. Those in power have managed to turn worker against worker for the spoils. That is not the way out. We need to organize as one pissed off group. When anyone rises to a better live we must all rise to a better live.

I don't have to tell you that when you bargain your contract, and you get that three percent raise, the costs of your health care plan goes through the roof and today working people's buying power is less than anytime in the last 50 years. Let us recognize the enemy and the politicians they buy. It is time to ask our elected official whose side they are on and don't just take their word for it but watch every vote and see if it help you or helps the corporations and financial institutions. We can do better. We will do better. Thank you, workers of Wisconsin! Thank you, workers of Ohio! Thank you, workers of Indiana! Thank you workers everywhere!

C. T. Weber is State Chair of the Peace and Freedom Party.