Tennessee autoworkers vote against their own interests and the interests of workers everywhere

Autoworkers at a Volkswagon plant in Tennessee voted down a proposal to unionize tonight. In doing so these workers just voted against their own interests and ceded even more power to the corporation they work for. What they get in return is a low paid, highly vulnerable job. 

This was another example of a brilliantly executed strategy by the elites, together with government (yes, the Tennessee GOP, led by Senator Bob Corker) to further a relentless divide and conquer strategy that pits worker against worker and 99 percenter against 99 percenter.

It's sad but true that workers today are too scared to unionize because they fear losing their jobs. Ironically this makes them even more vulnerable. Corporations have unions: they're called lobbyists. So why do workers vote to have nothing? That is the height of foolishness. 

Many of the protections and benefits that workers enjoy today, like the 40-hour work week, weekends off, child labor laws and other statutes that are on the books came out of the bloody labor struggles of the early 20th century. People sacrificed--and died--so that we could enjoy these little things. 

In contrast, workers today are afraid to even metaphorically spill blood. They've been completely beaten into submission by a level of unbridled corporate power that is unprecedented and we've sat back and allowed it to grow over the past 40 years without any challenge whatsoever. 

Now it's too late. And if you don't think it's too late then just consider the fact that after everything we've seen and experienced with respect to joblessness, income inequality, skyrocketing corporate profits, obscene executive compensation, corporate welfare and such, and workers STILL can't vote to demand a little tiny something for themselves, well, that says it all. We're done. We're slaves.

The TN autoworkers' vote tonight was a vote against workers everywhere. It was a vote against a decent society. No balls. We're all whipped.

Candice Bernd — The Labor Movement Will Be Televised: "Strength in Union" Examines Past, Present, Future of US Labor Movement (video)

A new made-for-television documentary series aims to unpack the history of the labor movement in the United States in five one-hour episodes to combat anti-union propaganda at a time when union power is waning and collective-bargaining rights are under attack across the nation.

Legendary folk singer and activist Pete Seeger will help narrate the new series "Strength in Union," which tackles the history of the U.S. labor movement from its origins in the early Industrial Revolution to its historic struggles in incidents ranging from the battle with the Pinkertons, the Haymarket Riot in Chicago, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory strike and fire, the Taft-Hartley Act, Reagan’s firing of the air traffic controllers in the '80s, and on to some of today's most important labor issues, including free-trade agreements and the effects of globalization on American unions....

The series is being produced by the Arete Living Arts Foundation and likely will air on PBS after post-production wraps up. Shooting is expected to be finished by the end of the year.

"I hope this will kind of push back against the right-wing propaganda that's really affecting people, especially in rural areas of America," Pink said.

Truthout | News
The Labor Movement Will Be Televised: "Strength in Union" Examines Past, Present, Future of US Labor Movement (video)
Candice Bernd

Will PBS air it in the present environment?