Labor union members, especially white men, are the target group for Donald Trump. He's had a lot of success in getting their support. So, it's not at all clear that labor unions will be able to do as much as they once could to get their members to actually vote for the candidate the union itself supports.
Labor unions have a long history of benefitting all workers, even those who are not members of unions, because everyone's wages go up. If we don't increase membership - and membership in labor unions is going down because of the attacks against organized labor - it's something every single American, whether they're officially in a union or not, should be concerned about. It's a spiral. It's a weakening of the middle class and our economy can't sustain that.
The Obama administration likes to say that it is 'pro-worker.' But something is amiss when its labor priorities are forcing unionization and labor contracts on American workplaces, and denying union members information on how their dues money is spent.
Labor must work harder to attract and retain members. The party should be cheaper to join with discounted rates available for union members as well as for students, pensioners, and people out of work.
Now workers should have the right to join unions. But unions should not be forced upon workers. And unions should not have the power to take money our of their members' paychecks to buy the support of politicians that are favored by the union bosses.
My parents were both union members, and I grew up hearing how important it was to empower workers and have fair labor practices.
I am not sure we are going to see Republican Members endorsing Hillary Clinton. I think we will see plenty say they can't vote for Donald Trump. That doesn't mean they vote for her. They could either not vote, vote for the Libertarian ticket or write someone in.
Teacher unions are an interest group that acts in defense of their own interests, which means the union bosses' interests, not the members.
Historically, labor unions arose when people had gotten a taste of a different lifestyle and were willing to pay a lot more for their basic livelihood and had gotten into a fix they couldn't get out of - because they had accepted the unacceptable to begin with. Accepting something you have to form a labor union to fight after the fact only tells me that people were acting against their own best (or even good) interests for a long time. I don't see any rational, coherent explanation for this sort of behavior in humans, but it's all over the place.
What was really interesting in his speech, which, by the way, had (inaudible) footnotes - the written version of it - which might be a personal record for Donald Trump - the source of a lot of his numbers on the free trade section of the speech came from an organization called the Economic Policy Institute, which was a think tank or is a think tank that was founded by labor unions to promote the labor unions' point of view on free trade agreements.
Today in America, unions have a secure place in our industrial life. Only a handful of reactionaries harbor the ugly thought of breaking unions and depriving working men and women of the right to join the union of their choice. I have no use for those - regardless of their political party - who hold some vain and foolish dream of spinning the clock back to days when organized labor was huddled, almost as a hapless mass. Only a fool would try to deprive working men and women of the right to join the union of their choice.
A basic assumption shapes most Americans’ mindset about labor: the belief that the death of unions isn’t my problem because I’m not in a union. That assumption is wrong. Even if you aren’t a member, your pay is influenced by the strength or weakness of organized labor. The presence of unions sets off a wage race to the top. Their absence sets off a race to the bottom.
People are very independent. And what I have seen with all the unions is that you have members who, regardless of who their union choose to endorse, ultimately want to exercise their own judgment and want to vote for the person they feel is best.
The unions claim the deck is stacked against them when it comes to labor laws, but the truth is many private and public sector workers are forced to pay union dues as a condition of their employment, yet they have little say in how the unions spend their money.
I would not vote for the Democratic candidate. I could not vote for Donald Trump. I would therefore have to write in someone. I could get behind any other Republican candidate, any of them.
For working people and union members, Labor Day stands for something special and profound. It's a day to honor the deep commitment each of us has to serve the children we teach, the families we heal, and the communities we love.
Well, look, let me put it this way. Back in 2005, when I was a freshman, I - I was the first Democrat to support CAFTA. My labor union folks made me their number-one target. They came after me, and I'm still here.