dagblog - Comments for "Labor Faces a Moment of Truth"

I'd heard that as well. Some

AmericanDreamer — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 22:48:03 +0000

In reply to Dems are already channeling

I'd heard that as well. Some of the senators (who serve staggered terms) have been in 1+ years at this point.

Dems are already channeling

acanuck — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 22:03:51 +0000

In reply to Labor Faces a Moment of Truth

Dems are already channeling some of the mounting anger by weighing recall campaigns against half a dozen Wisconsin legislators. Unfortunately, you can't launch a recall until the recallee has served a full year, so Walker himself is safe for now.

http://news.firedoglake.com/2

we are stardust — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:02:46 +0000

In reply to Labor Faces a Moment of Truth

http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/02/22/poll-shows-support-for-public-employees-protesters-in-wisconsin-fight/

SJ, remember that this

Ramona — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 13:56:27 +0000

In reply to Incredible analysis here, AD.

SJ, remember that this article is in Politico. They're of course going to end it with a union death knell. But note, too, that there were over 2200 comments, mainly in support of labor. (I didn't read them all, just skimmed, but that's what I saw.)

We can't always choose our battlegrounds. Your governor chose this one and every thinking person has to respond. This from the Politico piece:

“Labor could not have walked away from this,” said Norman Adler, a longtime lobbyist for public sector labor unions in New York. “Whether there are risks or not … if they lose, they just have to reconfigure their tactics and move on.”

He added, “Whatever happens in Wisconsin, this is going to be replicated elsewhere. The unions can’t back off of this — it would be like hiking up a white flag. And that’s why a lot of private-sector labor [is backing the efforts]. Nobody can risk losing true collective bargaining.”

Ken Sunshine, a Democratic strategist with ties to labor unions, agreed.

“You’ve got to put your stake in the ground somewhere, and the governor there was so outrageous about ending collective bargaining,” Sunshine said. “For labor’s future, they have to pick a good fight, and this one has obviously become it.”

The key to keeping this momentum going is obviously to recruit more than just union members to the cause. It's re-educating the public about the need for union representation and about the relentless demonization of any interference in worker/management relations. We can't let this go. Not for a minute.

AM Joe had both Gov. Walker and Richard Trumpka on today. Walker first and then Trumpka. Trumpka won, hands down--not that the AM Joe crew would acknowledge that--and when I can find the clip I'm going to blog it. They did ask Walker if he ever tried to reach out to the unions, to sit down with them and negotiate and he said no, because there is no room for negotiation!

He may come out of this as another palinesque rock star (life for the masses is traditionally not fair), but if we can keep people like Trumpka out front and talking, keep the grassroots momentum going, never let up in the blogosphere, we might have a chance.

Incredible analysis here, AD.

SleepinJeezus — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 13:18:54 +0000

In reply to Labor Faces a Moment of Truth

Incredible analysis here, AD. And it really pisses me off! LOL!

It recounts how we got into this situation in the first place, wherein an essentially organic uprising was launched as people understood immediately that this declaration of war by Walker (effort funded by the Koch Bros.) that was launched against worker's rights in Wisconsin is a truly existential fight that bears impact on worker's rights nationwide. Labor either wins in Wisconsin or we can all go home and figure out how to salvage any semblance of the Labor Movement from the ash heap to begin anew. We win in Wisconsin, or lose our rights throughout the nation, and it is not a foregone conclusion that we can win here regardless of how much effort and passion is committed to this fight. The forces aligned against us are simply THAT powerful.

But the analysis here seems to suggest that Labor is ill-served by planting their flag in Madison. While recounting the many failures of leadership and the temerity with which the Unions have acted in the past, this analysis seems to suggest that we would be best served by ignoring this extreme challenge, taking our losses, and then hope we survive to (maybe?) fight another day.

In other words, the recommended response to confronting what could well be the coup-de-grace in this war that has been launched against the middle class is to lay down, roll over, and accept it with all the temerity that got us here in the first place.

Sounds like a recipe for the demise of Unions altogether in suggesting that the Labor Movement should simply surrender in Madison without firing off a shot in this long-standing war that has been launched against us. Musta' been written by those who devise the strategic political responses for the Democratic Party itself, if only because it sounds so remarkably familiar.