A couple of days ago, my Facebook newsfeed started having things in it like this:
and one of my friends referred said: “How ironic in light of recent activities in the state of Michigan today’s liturgical readings are paraphrased by scholars in the following way: “And it is today, in the present, that we decide our future destiny. It is with our concrete every day behavior in this life that we determine our eternal fate.”
Anything that connects labor unions with the season of Advent will pique my curiosity. And Since I grew up in Michigan, I started to pay attention!
On Wednesday, Governor Rick Snyder signed a bill that made Michigan the 24th “Right to Work” state in the country. What that basically means is that if you belong to a labor union in Michigan, you cannot be compelled to pay union dues. That’s it. It doesn’t mean that you cannot work if you don’t pay your dues, or that the union can kick you out if you don’t pay – it just means that if you work in a labor job, you do not have to pay your dues.
- Workers still have the right to form and join a union.
- Workers still have the right to bargain collectively.
My mom worked as a public school teacher in Michigan for over 30 years. When my sister and I were very little she had to attend educational seminars in the summertime until she earned her Master’s degree, she checked papers on nights and weekends, she went to workshops and she stayed late to talk to parents and help students. For many years she also organized a Christmas and a spring music program. Mom was also a Democrat.
But after 1973, it started to bother Mama that her labor union was supporting candidates that did not support her views, particularly her strong view against abortion. And there seemed to be nothing she could do about it. Outspoken as she was, Mama did tell the union higher ups that she did not support that, but her dues were take any way and she cringed every time her union gave out their endorsements and monetary support.
And the money is really what this is all about. Labor unions collect $14 billion in dues annually. When they contributed to political parties this last election cycle, 93% of their donations went to the Democrats. And Democrats are pro-abortion.
Contrary to what some of my FB friends seem to think, RTW states have higher wages. So falling wages should be a nonstarter.
Read More At IBD: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/121112-636665-right-to-work-means-better-wages.htm#ixzz2EwDbckvg
And where there is big money at stake, violence is sure to follow.
Ah… the tolerance of the left.
After a little more looking around I found a – a paper that does a good job of presenting both sides of this argument.
Also Lou Dobbs explains why the Democratic Party is so adamant about big unions and collecting dues.
We just went through an election cycle that had a surprise result- the incumbent president, presiding over the worst economy since the Great Depression and plunging the country deeper in debt, won! And he won it because he had a great ground game, that was well supported by labor unions. There was enough money to apparently have Democratic and pro-Obama seminars at places like the medical school my niece attends, and despite older established physicians opposing Obamacare, my niece and her classmates voted for the president! I doubt they heard presentations for the opposite side. It’s time to even the battle field and cutting the money supply is a great first step.
