Republicans Using Crisis To Smash Unions
By Ben Cohen
It comes as no surprise that Republicans are using the Auto Workers to achieve a long held goal: To destroy unions and drive wages for working Americans down. Apparently, this model works because it helps business grow, increases corporate profits which trickles down to everyone else (just don't ask for any evidence). Unfortunately, Democrats aren't exactly fighting hard for working Americans and will probably be bullied into making concessions. Who loses? You guessed it - middle and working class Americans. So predictable. From The Real News:
On Thursday night, Republicans in the US Senate succeeded in
filibustering the newest draft of the $14 B auto bailout bill. The Bush
Administration and Treasury Department moved quickly to assure everyone
that they would not allow Chrysler and GM to fail, and that they were
considering committing some of the $700 B financial bailout money to
the cause. Many of the Republican senators who voted down the bill
cited the United Auto Workers union as the reason for the breakdown of
the bill. Oppositely, many union members have accused the senators in
question of union busting. The Real News Network spoke to Mark Brenner,
an expert on the US labor movement and auto industry, to get his
opinion on the standoff.
Watch the report here.
