Fucking Labor in the Ass

A harsh title perhaps, but can you think of any better terms for what Bush and the Republicans are doing to organized labor? If unions were on the decline in the Clinton era, they are being plowed under now. Recent decisions to not allow unorganized workers to have a fellow worker with them when in meetings with supervisors and to deny graduate teaching assistants at private universities the right to organize were tough shots, but the recent move to stop card checks as a method to organize would be a huge blow for any organizing campaign to overcome. For those of you not familiar with the idea of a card check, it means that if a union presents a series of cards signed by workers to an employer that say they have joined the union, the employer often gives in and allow unionization. This has become increasingly effective as companies frequently do want to engage in a costly anti-union campaign. To make this practice more difficult means that each unionization campaign would have to fight against anti-union lawyers and their tactics and we can expect the rate of unionized workers in this country to fall below 10%.

This has happened of course because of anti-labor Bush appointees to the National Labor Relations Board and the federal judiciary. Not surprising of course. More surprising perhaps is that with a few exceptions, Clinton appointees also did not help labor's cause. If we can't expect better support from our friends, what can we expect from our enemies?