UWUA Local 304 Utility Workers Union of America AFL-CIO

In an attempt to peddle more fear among their empty headed, brainwashed, and bigoted followers; the extreme right wing was quick to bring to light that white Americans long time majority in our society MAY be shrinking.

If our was a FAIR and JUST society, why would this speculation be so disturbing?

It’s sad when those of the 1% are so deseperate, and they think the rest of us so stupid, that we should turn against each other so that they can continue buying our government one piece at a time (like Johnny Cash’s Cadillac), corrupt our legal system in their favor, and push for less regulation of them and more regulations for the rest of us. 

On June 27th, there was a huge rally in Canton, Mississippi, in support of ALL working Americans. Over 400 attended the gathering held in the shadow of the Nissan plant that has been attempting to organize their fIrst union, despite heavy handed management interference, intimidation, and coercement.  You can visit Look Beneath The Shine and read the story of the struggle faced by these workers.

The problems at Nissan are the same ones faced by workers nationwide. Arbitrary discipline, rampant favoritism, cuts in healthcare benefits, increasing use of temporary employees, and changes to working hours and conditions with no warning or excuse round out Nissan’s massive anti-union offensive management has employed against their workforce.

Lethal Weapon star Danny Glover has taken a personal interest in the fight, appearing many times in support of Nissan workers. Appearing with the Hollywood star are labor leaders, church leaders, students, retirees, and people from every walk of life who realize that the fight for fairness in the workplace translates to fairness in our country as a society.

All the union activity in the southern states has spawned a new website called Facing South. Issues such as voter suppression, political corruption and cronyism, wage inequality, as well as other societal woes and injustices are fodder for their site.

Whether it’s Mercedes in Alabama, VW in Tennessee, or Nissan in Mississippi; workers are finding their voice and standing up for a better life for themselves and their family.

To quote a line from John Sayles movie Matewan, “there’s only two sides; them that work and them who don’t. You work, they don’t.”

Divide and conquer has been a favored tool in the union busters arsenal. They will use ANY difference between groups of workers to build a rift between people that keeps them from pulling together. The use of temporary workers has exploded nationwide, and these workers are too often exploited with no benefits and low wages and then blamed as THE problem in the workforces they are forced to work in.

One shameful example is Janio Salinas, a temporary worker at a sugar refinery who was killed thirteen days after management made the decision to remove a piece of safety equipment from a sugar hopper. The hopper engulfed Salinas, killing him.

As long as there are those who want to prostate themselves at the feet of the 1%, blame the poor for the condition of the country, fan the flames of hate, fear, and bigotry; they serve to remind all of us that LABOR RIGHTS ARE CIVIL RIGHTS!