Why Elections Matter Now More Than Ever - Editorial Comment

Why elections matter and more importantly who gets elected really matters. Supreme Court justices are appointed by presidents for life and those appointed usually share the ideologies and values similar to the one who appoints them. To the victor goes the spoils. Case in point the recent Supreme Court review of the Friedrichs‰Ûª case in which teachers in California are challenging the obligation to pay union dues. If the court strikes more than 40 years of legal precedent regarding the obligation of union membership in the public sector the apple cart hasn‰Ûªt just been turned over, its been burned and dropped off a cliff. No one would be happier than the anti-Union billionaire bastards that have been successfully destroying unions and the worker protections that unions provide. The real shame is that politicians like Walker, Santorum, Cruz and Reagan, controlled by unfettered corporate money are also supported by working Americans, even some union members, whose own economic security is clearly at risk. While the nature of work has evolved the fact that workers are a commodity remains. The threats remain that if you ask for better conditions ‰ÛÏwe‰Ûªll have to shut the plant‰Û� You want a union? The response is ‰ÛÏWe‰Ûªll move next door to the right-to-work state.‰Û� This is about greed. Our adversaries will argue that it‰Ûªs about being competitive and most U.S. corporations left for China and real low wages long ago. How much is too much for the 1 percent? There was a time in America when it appeared the sky was the limit, when the engines were really turning and Americans actually supported one another. We had differences of opinion, politics, values but we respected each other‰Ûªs right to have differences. Those elected to represent us were decent men and women who compromised in order to do what was right for our country and ordinary Americans. We‰Ûªve moved on. Live and let live? Not anymore, in America today the Jerry Springer mentality thrives across this country and the politicians have tapped right into it. American corporations have been sitting on obscene amounts of cash as profits have risen and unfair tax policies have tilted way beyond fair. Wages in the United States and family income is at the same levels that they were in the 1970‰Ûªs. Wages have not been raised despite increased productivity. It‰Ûªs greed and the income inequality in this country is directly proportionate to the diminished strength of trade unions. When workers were organized a greater share of the wealth in America was in the hands of the workers and the great middle-class was created. The corporate quest for a union-free environment started in the 1980s with the election of Reagan. Paradoxically the success of unions have contributed somewhat to their demise. Too many union members are still well enough off to engage in the fight to protect their own economic interests. Before Harry Van Arsdale Jr. died in 1986 he predicted ‰ÛÏthat unions would be stronger 100 years from now, but not until workers have lost everything.‰Û� If Harry was correct, we are 20 years away from the bottom and we will have a 50-year climb back to the top. In 1933, when HVA Jr. became the business manager America was in the grips of a Depression, people had nothing, they also had nothing to lose. It was the right and ability to organize that saved America‰Ûªs working class. It wasn‰Ûªt easy but working men and women were up for the fight. That spirit in America‰Ûªs working class has been compromised, workers are not willing to risk the level of comfort that having a paycheck brings. Rather than supporting one another we‰Ûªre going to be pitted against one another. Politicians have abandoned us for the support of deep-pocketed donors whose interests have nothing to do with the plight of the working class. That brings us back to Friedrichs. A case that argues that a person‰Ûªs right to free speech is compromised if they are required to pay union dues. This suit is backed by those same union busters who want unions to disappear. And why do they want that? Because unions and their members are the only entity that keeps them from having it all. When a union leader makes an unpopular decision that is really in the best interests of the whole membership they are representing their members. If the court allows members to opt out of paying their fair share and the union is compelled to represent them anyway, game over. There are no unions. Good luck with your free speech then, workers won‰Ûªt have a chance and 50 years is a long time.