For many workers, fear of layoff is big motivator

I just read an article from the Associated Press. It can be read here:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/For-many-workers-fear-of-apf-15458805.html

Here is terrorism at work. The Union leaders are also responsible for this. I was talking to a guy in the building trades the other day. His hours have been cut in half but he has not been laid off. This is good as the Union hall is full of unemployed workers. Another friend told me some 500 of his 3000 members are unemployed.

Like the situation described in the article, this guy decided against a trip with his son's school as a chaperon and said that there is increased tension even between friends at work as everyone knows they could be without a job any moment. He may also lose his home. Public sector workers are also under attack but much more fortunate in that they cannot be laid off at will.

I retired from a public sector job and one thing that I found most irritating was some of the right wing workers who championed the merits of the free market while receiving European welfare state type wages, benefits and security; what hypocrites.

The security and benefits of the public sector is what the bosses want to eliminate and are using this crisis to step up that assault with the help of the Union officials. Anyone who accepts that we have to compete, in other words accepts the laws of the market rather than challenging them will suffer this fate.

In fact, those right wingers on the job who champion capitalism and all that, particular those in the public sector, should not complain about losing their benefits, this is capitalism at work----enjoy it.

A great tragedy is not just the Union leaders at the highest levels. There are the thousands of paid staffers that work for the Union apparatus or other lower level officials that have entered the Labor bureaucracy with the auspices of the hierarchy as opposed to on the shoulders of a movement from below or with having built a base first among the ranks around a fighting program and a strategy to win it.

In this area alone (The SF Bay Area) there must be thousands of them. Many of them are former or present socialists, Anarchists or other leftists of one sort or another. Yet, they march in lock step with the right wing bureaucracy that dominates the Labor movement; they are part of the Union machine because their actions protect the hierarchy's left flank. San Francisco city workers that voted against a concessionary contract a few weeks ago were "confused" according to Labor leaders, including the head of the supposedly progressive San Francisco Labor Council. Another concessionary contract was sent them and, having no alternative, they voted it up. There was no public outrage from any of the thousands of left or progressive officials, no contradicting this remark in the press, no calling of meetings to oppose this and challenge the establish leadership's collaborationist's policies.

SEIU alone provided hundreds of staffers at dues payers expense electing Obama and other Democrats in to office. Now Obama's spokesperson is telling them thanks but we all have to sacrifice. The violence, breakdown of solidarity and emotional distress that occurs due to this situation is primarily the responsibility of the bosses and their system, but the Labor leadership shares a huge part of the blame. In fact, those of us that claim to oppose the Labor leaderships policies but do nothing are also responsible if we do not act, and act differently than they have.