SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
August 22, 2019
Sullivan’s Salvos 8/27/19
In this edition:
*Labor Day
*Labor Day Picnic
*The Electability Myth
*Did You Know?
*Labor Day
Happy Labor Day Monday, September 2! I love Labor Day. Every Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day we set aside time to recall the folks whose service has given us our freedom. I have long felt we need to treat Labor Day in a similar fashion.
Please take a moment this Labor Day to remember the people who fought (and often died) to give us child labor laws, 40 hour weeks, weekends, overtime, vacations, the minimum wage, sick leave, parental leave, OSHA, employment nondiscrimination, pensions, Social Security, health insurance, and so much more.
Do not be fooled! Benevolent corporations did not GIVE these benefits to workers! They were earned by workers who sacrificed! It is a shame that so many average Janes and Joes have chosen to support our corporate masters versus supporting those whose efforts really benefit the masses.
Unions continue to provide the best protections working people can have. I feel as though I have accomplished some good things as a member of the Board of Supervisors. One of the accomplishments of which I am most proud is starting an employee appreciation lunch every year the week of Labor Day. Johnson County employees deserve much more, but this is one extra opportunity to say thank you.
Trust me – the average person has nothing to fear from unions. We all benefit when folks have safe and healthy workplaces. We all benefit when workers get adequate rest. We all benefit when workers receive good training. We all benefit when folks earn a living wage and have health insurance. Unions help improve the quality of life for all of us.
One example of a way in which unions benefit everyone: much is made of the automobile industry expanding into the southern US. While these are not union plants, workers still have good wages and benefits. Some see this as an indictment of unions. It is precisely the opposite.
Do not think for a minute that these companies pay $22 per hour because they WANT to. They would be much happier to pay $4 per hour. And, when China’s workforce improves in quality to the point that they can do automotive work, the companies will move there.
Understand – large corporations exist for one reason, and that is to earn a profit. If the laws allowed slavery, some companies would use it. Because it is cheaper.
So why do they pay $22 in the southern US? Because of the threat of the United Auto Workers (UAW). If the wages or benefits ever sink too low, UAW could unionize those workers. The car companies don’t want that, so they pay the lowest possible acceptable wage.
See? The UAW does not represent the workers at those plants. But they have driven up the wages and benefits for the workers there all the same.
Labor has been hit hard, but not everything is doom and gloom. Look at the recent public employee recertification elections. 436 out of 468 public-sector bargaining units voted to recertify their organizations. Voter participation was 88 percent.
I am proud to be a member of Local 716 of the American Federation of Teachers, an affiliate of the Iowa City Federation of Labor. Happy Labor Day!
*Labor Day Picnic
The Iowa City Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, will host its annual Labor Day picnic on Monday, September 2, starting at 12 PM at City Park. Burgers, brats, veggie options and beverages provided. Please bring a dish to share. Political speeches and a good time guaranteed. Free and open to all Friends of Labor.
*The Electability Myth
Every time I hear someone talk about “electability,” I cringe. What the hell is “electability”?
Did you HONESTLY believe in 2006 that a black man named Barack Hussein Obama could be elected? (I was on his team that early, but I was far from certain!) Did you HONESTLY believe in 2015 that Donald Trump could be elected? I didn’t.
And the list goes on and on. “Electability” is not real. It is a creation of pundits – pundits whose predictions are about 80% wrong. “Electability” can only be measured after the fact – did the person in question get elected? Anyone who pretends to know something about “electability” before an election is simply a fraud.
Now the pundits have regular people thinking about this completely fabricated idea. And regular people are making decisions based upon guessing how their neighbors might guess. The whole thing is a big farce! The Emperor has no clothes!
What’s more, when asked to define “electability,” we often get into racist, sexist, homophobic traps. Who “looks like” a President? Well, all but one are old white guys. So I guess it is the old white guy?
The idea of “electability” also causes Democrats to move to the middle on issues when that is actually WORSE for their electoral chances and WORSE for the country! Look at the subject of background checks for firearm purchases. Polls routinely show support for background checks in the upper 80s and low 90s. But because of the “electability” boogie man, many Democratic candidates feel a need to move to the center on that issue.
Polling of Democrats continues to show that their number one issue – by far – is defeating Donald Trump. If this polling is accurate, then one becomes “electable” simply by winning the Democratic nomination.
So please… stop perpetuating the “electability” myth. Let’s talk policy. Let’s talk ideas. And let’s stop trying to guess what will happen.
*DID YOU KNOW? The first U.S. Labor Day was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, planned by the Knights of Labor. The Labor Day parade of about 10,000 workers took unpaid leave and marched from City Hall past Union Square to Elm Park at 92nd Street and 9th Avenue for a concert, speeches, and a picnic.
Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-
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---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 2:28 PM
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