Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Omaha Steve

(103,332 posts)
Sat Mar 14, 2015, 06:10 PM Mar 2015

To fix inequality, Democrats are pushing unions


X post in Labor & GD

At a time when GOP is gaining ground in very public attacks on labor, the left is coming to the defense of collective bargaining



Mary Will, left, with Local 68, and Corey Smith, right, with Local 113, chant during a rally inside the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison as the state Assembly debated the right-to-work bill March 5. (AP Photo/Wisconsin State Journal, Amber Arnold)


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/13/to-fix-inequality-democrats-are-pushing-unions/

By Lydia DePillis and Jim Tankersley March 13

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) was reclining in his Capitol hideaway, ticking through ideas to improve education, immigration, infrastructure and government-funded research, all in hopes of reviving the middle class. It was a five-point plan, and the fifth point, which he conceded needed some political messaging help, was this: “I’d make it easier,” the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate said, “to form unions.”

“I think the Republican destruction of unions just kills the middle class,” he said. “And as people start sinking and earning less and less, they’ll be more open to that.” Expanding union membership, he added, “is gaining more currency” as a policy solution, “because the statistics are becoming clear and overwhelming about the middle-income decline.”

In recent months, a collection of left-leaning politicians, economists, and public intellectuals have started making a renewed case for collective bargaining as a tool to heal the ailing middle class. The pitch doubles as an effort for Democrats to preserve a key constituency they’ve long relied on to win elections, at a time when conservatives are making strong gains in often very public attacks on union power.

Increasing the ranks of labor unions has long been a goal of Democratic lawmakers. It’s also been a losing fight -- union membership has been shrinking for decades -- and often, a low priority for the party when it is in power. That appears to be changing, at least rhetorically, for Democrats and their allies as they hone a middle-class message for the 2016 elections.

FULL story at link.
2 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
To fix inequality, Democrats are pushing unions (Original Post) Omaha Steve Mar 2015 OP
It is a little too late IMO n/t doc03 Mar 2015 #1
Short of full-out revolution it is TBF Mar 2015 #2
Latest Discussions»Retired Forums»Socialist Progressives»To fix inequality, Democr...