LABOR STANDING STRONG

I just read an article about a sit down strike in Chicago. A good sign. When We The People finally get tired of massive corruption, greed, and worker injustice we finally take a stand. This sit down strike in Chicago is a good look at what some are doing to send the message we will not take it anymore.

Making a New New Deal: Sitdown Strike in Chicago - Yahoo! News

From the article:

After the Bank of America -- a $25-billion recipient of Bailout Czar Hank Paulson's "Wall Street First" largesse -- cut off operating credit to the Republic Windows and Doors company, executives of the firm announced Friday that they were shutting its factory in Chicago.

Instead of going home to a dismal Holiday season like hundreds of thousands of other working Americans who have fallen victim to the corporate "reduction-in-force" frenzy of recent weeks -- which has seen suddenly-secure banks pocket federal dollars rather than loosen up credit -- the Republic workers occupied the factory where many of them had worked for decades.

Members of United Electrical Workers Local 1110, which represents 260 Republic workers, are conducting the contemporary equivalent of the 1930s sit-down strikes that led to the rapid expansion of union recognition nationwide and empowered the Roosevelt administration to enact more equitable labor laws. And, just as in the thirties, they are objecting to policies that put banks ahead of workers; stickers worn by the UE sit-down strikers read: "You got bailed out, we got sold out."

As has been reported in mainstream media for a while now, apparently the Banks are taking the money they received from OUR bailout and not putting it back in the market as was intended. How many mergers have you seen with banks since the money became available?

How many atrocities have we seen, such as AIG spending lavishly on a weekend getaway, with foolish spending of our bailout tax money?

These things are absurd and one more example of greed versus sacrifice.

I have not heard of anything of this caliber since the 1930's and the New Deal. Roosevelt understood the necessity of better labor laws and union organization in general.

This is an apparent attempt to force the powers to be to recognize that labor is the American backbone and must be dealt with fairly and equitably.

Hopefully, this is a sign of finally putting an end to the injustices labor has had to endure for the last decade or two.

Whether union or non union, workers must stand together to be recognized for their contributions to our American way of life. No CEO made his money without labor. Nor has labor made a paycheck without the CEO's. We need each other.

We often hear today about shared sacrifices. It is time for the top to share with those on the bottom and help create a strong middle class once again. Sacrifices should be equal not one sided.

I stand with my Chicago brothers in unity in the hopes that their display will inspire others to help take back the inequities that have been forced on all labor at every level.

Good luck.