Unions Brace Themselves as Trump Prepares to Defang Labor Board
Unions Brace Themselves as Trump Prepares to Defang Labor Board
Unions Brace Themselves as Trump Prepares to Defang Labor Board
Unions Brace Themselves as Trump Prepares to Defang Labor Board
28 comments
Just under 3 weeks until President Elmo and First lady Tramp take office and everyone is scrambling.
Unions get ready to welcome, with open arms, what they voted for.
[deleted]
Not “defang,” goddamnit.
“Cripple.” “Kneecap.” “Disembowel.” “Strangle.” Or maybe, “Gut, fill with a warm blend of diet coke and frappéd hamberders, and use as a sex doll.
That should help the middle class.
I still don’t get why the unions went so hard against Kamala. It’s genuinely odd
Union members voted for this.
All this guy does is take things away from people. He doesn’t seem interested in helping anyone but himself. And after all the stuff he unfortunately endured the last 4 years, that vindictiveness will rear it’s ugly head even more. I just don’t goddamn understand how people don’t see him for the lying charlatan that he is.
So this is how the price of eggs comes down..? Man… I had no idea that’s how economics worked.
The whole west coast knows
we love our 80 hour weeks with no overtime pay, don’t we, folks?
You voted for this.
Cheers to the Teamsters! You guys asked for it.
Racism and immigration issues are more important to union members and leadership than actual workers rights.
This is what all the wing nuts in my local voted for. Assholes.
Labour unions soon to be replaced by Prison Labour Union Local 666!
Teamsters FAFO. Can’t wait for the MAGA tears.
Very little union support for Harris.
Hope they enjoy the president they picked.
He also met with the ILA and supposedly backs them and their quest against automation ahead of their upcoming negotiations in January 🤷♀️ At least until someone tells him we have some of the least efficient ports in the world
Well done union voters! Y’all fucked yourselves right in the eyesockets.
President Musk likes when folks get fired.
Unbelievable
We tried very hard to save them from themselves
For the record, the largest unions in the country all endorsed Kamala Harris: NEA, SEIU, UFCW, UAW, IBEW, LIUNA, IAM, ILWU, CWA, UBCJA, etc. Teamsters were the only one who didn’t.
Project 2025 in full effect. Get rid of unions and overtime. In other words drive the workers into poverty and the oligarchs get richer.
Well, let’s remember that the head of the teamsters implicitly backed Trump by speaking at their convention and not endorsing any candidate.
So… Fuck him, drown in your own shit Sean.
It’s baffling that Republicans have been able to run on a message that’s “pro-working” class when they’ve been chipping away at the labor movement since Reagan.
So let’s start there.
There is no other figure in recent history that has had such a negative impact on the middle class and American worker’s way of life.
Reagan’s Administration ushered in the greatest redistribution of wealth in a generation.
His admin cut social programs and welfare benefits for countless Americans.
Reagan took money from the social security fund to pay for his budget deficits.
His admin rolled back labor organizing dramatically, and his handling of the air traffic controllers union strike was heavy handed and normalized union busting
Reagan played the most prominent role in carrying out supply side economic policies. Part of this agenda involved removing regulations and lowering taxes on businesses and corporations, which was supposed to translate into things like higher wages for workers, better jobs, etc, hence the “trickle down” label.
However, unlike the new deal response to the Great depression, which depended on the federal government intervening in the economy, the Reagan administrations response to “stagflation,” did not result in long lasting positive outcomes for the working and middle classes.
Before Reagan’s presidency, income tax on the wealthiest Americans was as high as 70%. By the end of Reagan’s presidency that number dropped to 28%.
Reagan was also responsible for generating major tax breaks for corporations and estates, all for the sake of limited government and a redistribution of wealth to the top.
People brag about short-term improvements during Reagan’s presidency, but the emphasis should be on short term, while it should also be emphasized that during this time, the rich got richer, and the poor, middle and working class saw little improvement.
The incomes of the wealthiest Americans rose by over 100%, by comparison, the incomes of workers rose by a whopping 17%. All that wealth really trickled down huh?
And since then, that wealth gap has only continued to widen.
Since Reagan stepped into office, executive salaries have skyrocketed as much as over a thousand percent, while average worker compensation has increased by only 18%
In 1980, the average CEO earned 36 times the average worker. Today, the average CEO earns 400 times the average worker.
For the average worker, wages haven’t even kept up with inflation. Where’s the trickle down?
Throughout Reagan’s presidency, even though there were concerns directed at his policies, Reagan still maintained that if workers weren’t getting richer, It was solely due to their own moral failures.
And ever since Reagan, this idea has taken hold in the Republican consciousness.
In terms of Reagan’s influence on unions:
The mid 20th century saw a peak in Union activity, nearly 1/3 of workers belonged to a union. Not only that, but unions had power, power to mount challenges against their employers. This even allowed unions to bring about important labor laws.
During this time, Reagan was a member of a union himself. He was even president of the screen actors guild. But then he flipped.
While he was president of the screen actors guild, he abused his power to grant his talent agency a waiver that would get him comfortable and well paid television roles. The FBI actually investigated this for anti-competitive behavior. His talent agency was eventually forced to shutter its doors.
Despite this, Reagan still used his previous position as a union president to appeal to union workers on the campaign trail.
**The air traffic controllers union strike:**
These workers were striking for better working conditions and higher pay.
The problem is that they were federal workers, and Reagan made it perfectly clear during a press conference that what they were doing was against the law, and that if they did not end their strike immediately, they would all be fired. Yeah, what a real working class hero.
Two days later, 12,000 workers were fired, not only that, but they were barred from working for the federal government ever again.
This actually crippled the labor movement, and it hasn’t recovered since.
At its peak, union membership accounted for over a third of all workers in the United States, at the end of Reagan’s presidency that number was cut in half.
Today, union membership accounts for around 10% of all workers.
Reagan’s firing of the air traffic controllers sent a heavy-handed message to Union workers. That message, in part, not only legitimized Union busting, but made it more acceptable.
Moving on…
Today, Republicans like Trump have taken a page from Reagan’s playbook, appointing corporate loyalists and cronies into positions of power within agencies like the NLRB where they can cripple the power of unions, make it harder for them to operate effectively, and continue disrupting whatever balance is left between employers and employees.
While Trump was president, his administration rolled back labor regulations, making it difficult for unions to organize and negotiate for better working conditions.
His administration also implemented policies that struck down protections for federal workers and restricted collective bargaining rights.
Trump’s policies favored employers over employees. Don’t forget his recent remarks in front of a crowd of Union workers where he stated he “hated” giving overtime pay.
Trump’s new administration is expected to be the richest in US history. Billionaires funding billionaires helping billionaires, yet they run on a so-called populist platform.
On the other hand, Joe Biden has been one of the most pro-union presidents in recent memory.
Biden has publicly and outspokenly supported unionization efforts. He is the first president to join workers on the picket line. He has issued executive orders that have helped improve working conditions for federal employees, and he has supported legislation that makes it easier for workers to unionize and bargain collectively.
By comparison, the labor relations board under Biden has been more active in protecting workers rights, even investigating union busting practices.
Biden’s policies have protected worker’s overtime pay and pensions and have ensured federal support for union jobs, construction projects, higher wages, collective bargaining and labor standards.
Under Biden’s admin, the gender pay gap narrowed. His administration also targeted workplace discrimination and the PUMP Act provided workplace protections for pregnant and post-partum workers.
Biden’s infrastructure agenda funded tens of thousands of infrastructure projects nationwide. Many of these projects require that all manufactured goods and construction materials be made in America.
Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act invested in the US semiconductor manufacturing industry, in workforce advancement and training, and in chips research and development.
The Biden admin also helped to implement a corporate minimum tax and a surcharge on corporate stock buybacks.
In the end however, the media and the American electorate have memory-holed Trump’s record as president. The general public is an irrational force, a much too large percentage of American voters aren’t making politically informed decisions, instead, they’re letting their feelings decide the outcome of our elections. And that’s what got Trump elected, *feelings*
I love this for the unions. People who supported them will see what morons they are,
Comments are closed.