Workers STRIKE! Not Missiles
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Joe Biden repeatedly insists he’s the most pro-union president in American history even though this is the same man whose very first 2020 presidential campaign fundraiser was hosted by Steven Cozen, founder of the union-busting law firm Cozen O’Connor.
After President Biden signed a congressional resolution on December 2, 2022 forcing railway workers to accept their new contract, Democrats celebrated. Thanks to Biden’s stewardship, they insisted, a “catastrophic” nationwide strike had been averted.
Perhaps if there had been a “catastrophic” nationwide railway strike which resulted in a contract with paid sick leave and better scheduling, that “catastrophic” chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio (as well as all those other “catastrophic” derailments this year), could have been averted.
If you’re on the side of labor, you recognize America needs a series of “catastrophic” nationwide strikes until the bosses are finally reminded of who the real boss is.
“You mean like in France?” Yeah, precisely.
France’s life expectancy is close to 83 years old, while in America it’s down to 77.
France’s retirement age is 62, and compared to America their healthcare is practically free.
Why does France have so much and the USA so little? Every couple of days the French workers shut it all down. It’s not quite the “creative destruction” Economist Joseph Schumpeter had in mind, but I can assure you it’s the best thing for worker efficiency. Based on GDP per hour worked, France has a higher productivity rate than America.
And with all those strikes, France’s economy, despite a population of only 67 million, is still the seventh largest in the world.
The dirty, dark secret Supply Siders don’t want you to know is that a country can have an enormous GDP even when they share it with all their citizens.
So yeah, a series of nationwide strikes just like France.
In Paris, a strike is like bad weather, you learn to adjust.
I know France has problems, but when it comes to important things like how long do you live?, and do you want to keep on living?, the French are way better off than we are.
Because nationwide strikes are good for your health.
Americans are warned a nationwide strike will cripple the economy. When nearly half of us can’t come up with a thousand dollars for an emergency, it sounds like our economy is already crippled.
We are warned that a nationwide strike would grind all commerce to a halt. You mean no more monthly beauty boxes from Allure Magazine? How will I survive?
Granted a nationwide strike means Americans would be out of work. But you have to remember that when you’re out of work that means you do not have to work.
Whatever serious economic hardship a nationwide strike temporarily imposes on Americans, it would be nothing compared to the bounty of higher wages and better working conditions that a nationwide strike would quickly harvest. (See France mentioned above.)
So where are the strikes?
We are told America is undergoing a golden age of labor activism.
Gallup reports America’s approval rate for unions is the highest since 1965.
Where are the strikes?
At first glance, you might think that union activism is on the rise. For example last year:
Union work stoppages were the highest since 2005.
Starbucks workers staged 107 individual strikes
48,000 University of California employees walked off their jobs.
While this seems like something, it amounts to absolutely NOTHING.
America has 131.18 million full-time workers. But last year a grand total of only 222,000 of them went on strike. That’s just 70,000 more Americans who were struck by a bullet.
And, because Americans don’t strike, because we don’t seize control of the economy’s on/off switch, we are miserable.
50% of U.S. workers feel stressed out on a daily basis.
41% say their job is a constant source of worry.
22% say their job makes them sad.
18% say it makes them angry.
We didn’t know our jobs were making us sick in the head until Covid lockdowns provided some perspective to see just how much unnecessary bullshit comes with a paycheck.
And so 2022 ushered in The Great Resignation with employers still complaining it’s difficult to find workers.
Why are American workers not sticking around to fight for higher wages and dignity?
Because they can’t do it without unions which are still on the decline. Despite all this reporting on labor activism, union membership reached an all time low in 2022.
The American worker needs a strong union movement, and the only way for unions to be strong and popular is by electing union leaders willing to shut it all down.
That also means that unions should only support candidates who, in turn, will support unions when unions decide it’s time to shut it all down.
A national railway strike last year would have been the best thing to happen to the American people.
But, both parties, which are beholden to Wall Street and not the workers, were terrified of a national railway strike. Partly because of the untold billions that would be lost, but mostly because like bridge and tunnel repairs clogging traffic for hours, most Americans would eventually come to see national strikes as a necessary inconvenience.
Right now, most Americans are easily terrified of a nationwide strike because they have never seen one, and fear of the unknown is always far worse than reality.
Once Americans saw that a nationwide strike could bring the rich and powerful to their knees, a vast majority of us would be energized to wage even more war against the billionaires and corporate scofflaws who take more from us than they give back.
The Democrats and Republicans feared a national railway strike because it wouldn’t have been as catastrophic as they warned, which means there would be more.
It’s why that joint congressional resolution Biden signed forcing the railway workers back to their jobs makes it a federal crime for them to go on strike while that new contract is in effect.
Joe Biden wants us to think he’s pro union because he constantly reminds us he supports the Pro Act.
Supporting the Pro Act and passing the Pro Act are two different things.
There’s only one way to pass the Pro Act. It’s the same way we outlawed child labor and got the forty hour work week.
Shut it all down.
Trust me, if we shut it all down you’ll survive. As a matter of fact, if we don’t occasionally shut it all down we won’t survive.