Member blogs

Labor and the Democrats

By DAVID MACARAY

“I worry that no matter how cynical I become, it’s never going to be enough.”

—Lily Tomlin

The way the Republican Party, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and American Enterprise Institute (not to mention the mainstream media) tell it, organized labor is able to get the Democrats to do pretty much anything it wants them to do because, as everybody knows, the Democrats are in labor’s pocket.  That’s how powerful America’s unions are. 

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A devastating 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti Tuesday January 12th. Thousands have been killed, and much Port au Prince leveled. This follows a series of deadly hurricanes in late 2008, and decades of foreign-influenced economic terrorism, culminating in a US-led coup in 2004, and continuing UN occupation. Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, is the only country to successfully liberate itself from slavery and the former colonial masters have not let them forget. Most people live on less than $2 a day, and many on less than $1. In April 2008 representatives of the ISC participated in an IWW delegation to Haiti where they met with workers and peasants struggling against neo-liberal slavery. We pledged our continued support to their struggle, and FW's donated generously to support their organizing, and again for aid following the hurricanes. Currently communications with Haiti are nearly impossible, but no doubt they will need our help again.

The delegation made a short video about our trip, "Haiti's Tourniquet" which we're selling for $15 (includes shipping) to raise money for our comrades in Haiti, and any donations large or small are greatly appreciated.

You can purchase videos and send donations to: Nathaniel Miller, PO Box 31909, Philadelphia, PA 19104-- please mark checks "IWW Haiti Fund," and note if you want a video. Contact nathaniel@iww.org to arrange online payment, or for other questions.

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By DAVID MACARAY

One of life’s gross inequities is that the people who actually do the work receive relatively little in the way of credit or compensation, while the people in charge of the work—the ones who plan it, assign it, oversee and critique it—receive regular promotions and large paychecks. 

This discrepancy wouldn’t be so objectionable if it could be shown that the planning and supervisory aspects of the job were what made all the difference—that it was the boss’s contributions, the efforts of the guys in the front office, and not those of the workers on the floor, that determined the success or failure of a venture, but, unfortunately, that’s not always the case.

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Martha Coakley, the current Massachusetts Attorney General, is not fit to be a United States Senator. Anyone who thinks so only needs to study the Fells Acres Day Care case. The Fells Acres Day Care was started by Violet Amirault and run with the help of her son, Gerald, and his sister, Cheryl Amirault LeFave. In the midst of the daycare sex abuse hysteria of the 1980s, all three were charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse.

 

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