Forum Post: An honest question, do you believe labor unions help or hurt the 99% and should OWS be involved with them?
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 9, 2011, 5:58 p.m. EST by thomasmiller
(163)
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First off, the Gallup poll which shows only 1 in 2 Americans believe that unions actually help the 99%.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/149279/approval-labor-unions-holds-near-low.aspx
At the end of the day, I believe that OWS shacking up with the Teamsters will cause them to lose credibility. The Teamsters is not just a labor union, but a very questionable labor union with a checkered past. I do not believe the Teamsters have helped the 99%...furthermore, I believe the Teamsters are actually responsible for the high unemployment rate we currently enjoy...
I think the movement is all inclusive, that any increase in numbers is welcomed as long no coopting if forthcoming.... yes we should be involved with them, the union members are part of the 99%.
Only one in two is 50%. No small number.
Unions would be more positively an element of the 99% movement if they admitted that the OWS convinced them to divest themselves of pension fund managers and investments that hurt America's middle class work force. Managers like Fidelity and Vanguard should be dumped because they invest in the banks that ripped America off. Banks like Goldman-Sachs are too anti American worker for unions to continue investing in them.
The unions could be a great force for protecting America if they removed their funds from the major banks. This would make the banks smaller and reduce their potential to become "too big to fail". Leaving billions in union funds in the big banks helps those banks to be "too big to fail".
If the unions did this their credibility in supporting OWS would grow exponentially in the eyes of the American people. As would the OWS movement.
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I believe the unions definitely help the 99%. They are working people and when the opposition points to all the "slackers and homeless" , the union folks will represent a nice counterargument. Plus, they are the people that make this country work.
um, I thought the high unemployment rate was a result of the collapse of the sub-prime loan and subsequent stock market implosion.
I'm not sure how the teamsters fit in there.
I figure that if OWS can accommodate homeless folks, then they can accept support from members of the community who are union members. If Unions look at the movement and decide they agree with our positions on issues, that is up to them.
The fact is that repelicans are consistently on the wrong side on issues of economic equity and social justice. Repelicans also hate unions. It's only natural that unions will look at us and attempt an association, if only to attempt to inflate their own political influence. Hopefully they are smart enough not to engage in any kind of double dealing, because if they do they are certain to get burned - hard.
I wouldn't worry about having the movement co-opted - it's too large and way too disorganized.
It's kinda beautiful.