Consolidated Union Leadership Support Amnesty Without Rank And File Support
Last month we noticed that one of our active members: John Buck, Regional Organizer American Federation of Citizen Union Workers P.A.C., was sharing and leaving outstanding comments on our blogs and news stories and leaving Facebook posts about union leadership. John has been a member since January 17, 2009 and has sent more than 135 faxes to Congress. I wanted John to share his stories and e-mails to me with you.
What you see below is John's article. This blog is worth reading and talking about.
LABOR UNION SHAME: Consolidated Union Leadership Support Amnesty Without Rank And File Support
by John Buck
As many of us Union members experience the woes of unemployment, more and more of us have begun to question our leadership's stance on Amnesty. I'd like to help answer that question. It is not good news. As a former organizer for the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) in New York, New Jersey, and Delaware, let me fill you in on the state of the Unions.
AFL-CIO
In September, Richard Trumka replaced John Sweeney as President of the AFL-CIO. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) includes 57 national and international unions representing 11.5 million members. Since the Sweeney takeover local Union mergers have exploded turning Union locals into what some call mega-locals. We were given many reasons for the mergers such as cost effectiveness and combined political power, but the true reason was to centralize power to squash dissent on a number of issues including: Amnesty and Open Borders.
UNI Global Union
Let’s talk about the Union Networks International (UNI) Global Union. UNI is the Global Union for skills and services. They represent 900 trade unions and 20 million workers worldwide (179 unions in the Americas and 3.5 million workers).
Here’s the question? Why would our leaders, who historically fought the influx of cheaper laborers and prevented illegal foreign labor at every step, start doing the opposite? Why would Union leader stop protecting the American workers? The answer has become clear. Our leadership has decided the mergers aren't over, they will continue, welcome to the UNI Global Union. You may not realize this but your trade may have already been affiliated without your consent or vote. Ask your leadership today!
You are in the process of being told that the only way to fight corporate globalism is a global union... that sounds great for the bosses who will be receiving dues money, and therefore paychecks from the low cost workers overseas to whom so many of our jobs have gone, but what about the American worker? We live here. We work here. The push for Amnesty only paves the road for the Open Borders flow of labor.
Leadership in Question
Joseph T. Hansen, President of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), President of the “Change to Win Federation”, a coalition of American labor unions originally formed in 2005 as an alternative to the AFL-CIO, is now the International President of UNI Global Union. He met DHS Head Janet Napolitano in a private meeting with 100 leaders of the pro-illegal alien community to discuss Comprehensive Immigration Reform and Amnesty. What is going on with our dues supporting this? Our dues are being spent to organize our replacements whether it is illegal aliens crossing our borders here at home or supporting the factory worker in China. You will be told that bettering the working conditions of those less fortunate is good for all But is it good for us? By the time the pay scale in China reaches even half of our minimum wage our great grandchildren would be ready for retirement. So why the Amnesty push? TO BRING IN A NEW LABOR FORCE WILLING TO WORK AT A FRACTION OF OUR PAY, and to LOWER the standard of living so as to have a LEVEL PLAYING FIELD with our UNI Global Union counterparts overseas.
We have fought hard for our standard of living and to let the socialist leadership that hijacked our Union in 1994 force us back into peasant wages is a betrayal of the highest order and must not stand. We must fight Amnesty as a first step towards fighting this UNI Global Union. Courageous Labor leaders such as George Meany, Samuel Gomper, and Cesar Chavez would be disgusted with what has happened in the few short years since the Sweeney-Trumka coup which essentially voided principles held by these champions of the American worker and our way of life. We must demand a congressional investigation into these backdoor affiliations, a full review of the Union election process, and finally an investigation that demands full financial disclosure so we may stop any further donations to our extinction.
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