Watching the news recently, you have to wonder if the world has turned upside down. In the Middle East, people are overthrowing governments in order to secure their basic rights. And here at home, politicians are waging an all-out war to take away our democratic rights to join unions and bargain collectively.

Coverage in Egypt and elsewhere has left us in awe at the power of the people. We’ve heard about the role of Facebook and Twitter in aiding the popular youth uprisings. But we’ve heard far less about the central role of labor movements in these struggles.

These popular uprisings would not have succeeded without their close ties to labor organizations.

Why hasn’t the mainstream media informed Americans about how the Egyptian and Tunisian labor movements helped fuel the revolutions in response to declining living standards? What can American workers, also experiencing declining living standards, learn from our brothers and sisters in the Middle East?

Conservatives Attack Unions
You won’t hear that question raised by conservatives. They’re creating their own revolution and it’s the workers they are trying to overthrow. After big business, Wall Street and the banks brought our economy to near collapse, conservatives have chosen to go after what they say is America’s greatest threat – organized workers and their unions. Why? Because the power of working people and their unions is the only thing standing in the way of the total domination of the American political system by a combination of corporate greed, rightwing media and Tea Party extremism.

In a number of states, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and elsewhere, conservative politicians, supported by their corporate funders, are going after unions.

Even in Michigan, my home state, conservative politicians want to pass anti-union, anti-democratic Emergency Manager laws to take control of cities, townships, schools, and counties, in order to wipe out all collective bargaining and remove locally elected officials!

Whether it’s trying to destroy the rights of public sector workers in Wisconsin, pass right-to-work-for-less laws in Indiana, or defund workers’ political activities through so-called “paycheck protection” legislation, conservative politicians are going after working people – as if we were the enemy!

Make no mistake about it, the attacks on unions has nothing to do with balancing budgets or making America competitive. The purpose is to drive unions – all unions – out.

Obama Gets It Right
President Obama got it right when he said on television in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, “Some of what I’ve heard coming out of Wisconsin, where they’re just making it harder for public employees to collectively bargain generally, seems like more of an assault on unions.”

It seems as if corporations will stop at nothing to silence workers and their unions. It has even been reported that the Chamber of Commerce hired private security firms to sabotage unions.

Enough is enough! It’s up to each of us to speak out against those who seek to destroy the middle class and the unions that have made it possible. We’re in for a long fight to get our country’s priorities back on track. We won't walk away until we have won!

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