Governor Nikki Haley's Rage Against Workers

Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina has got a chip on her shoulder. Last week during her “State of the State” address she said the following:

“Unions thrive in the dark. Secrecy is their greatest ally, sunlight their most potent adversary. And we'll make the unions understand full well that they are not needed, not wanted, and not welcome in the State of South Carolina.” 

 As if this remark wasn’t aggressive enough, this week Governor Haley announced the filing of a new bill that's sole intent is to weaken unions even further in her state.

Governor Haley claims this bill is about closing loopholes, but South Carolina is already home to some of the toughest anti-union laws in the nation -- less than 5% of the State's workers are unionized. Furthermore, she doesn't have the power to decide where unions can and can't be. The decision to form a union is up to workers -- not politicians.

This bill is nothing but desperate pandering fueled by Governor Haley’s selfish desire to regain fringe tea party support that is eroding following her ill-timed endorsement of Mitt Romney.

It’s understandable for Governor Haley to feel frustrated. South Carolina’s unemployment rate, at 9.9%, ties them for 10^th worst in the nation. But taking away the rights of workers does nothing to create jobs.

It would be nice if Governor Haley displayed a semblance of understanding workers before she so openly bashed them. We have the largest gap between rich and poor in this country since the Great Depression. An overwhelming majority of GDP is going to corporate profits whereas historic lows are being contributed to wages and salaries. It’s not workers whose power and influence needs to be curbed, it’s corporations.

Governor Haley should wise up and shift her focus away from abolishing the rights of working class Americans. Maybe then we'll see her put forth legislation that actually makes a positive difference in people's lives.

Sarah Palin Tells Union Members to Reject Improvements to the Health Care Bill

We recently posted about the improvements to the tax portion of the health care bill for all workers which union members helped to make possible. Well, Sarah Palin apparently thinks union members should reject this bill. At first, she Tweeted this:

"Pls pay attention 2 Big Union backdoor deal struck yest w/Big Govt in sweetheart healthcare deal.Call the folks u elected,say NO! UNFAIR.."

Then she apparently remembered she's supposed to be in favor of unions and working people, so she then Tweeted this:

"good,hardworking pro-business UnionMEMBERS should oppose their UnionBOSSES backroom deal on this;unfortunately/unfairly paints all of'm bad."

What do you think? Should union members tell Congress to go back to taxing union health care plans, and dental and vision for all workers? Union members worked hard to make sure all workers could have better health care--should we drop these improvements to make ex-Governor Palin feel better?

Hundreds Of Union Members To March In 56th Inaugural Parade

From Change To Win In Washington, DC:

January 20th is going to be an historic day!

Oh, you think, I knew that. That’s when we’re going to be swearing in our first-ever African-American President of the United States!

That’s true, but it’s not the only reason why Tuesday will be historic.

What else is happening? For the first time in living memory, members of America’s labor movement have been asked to march in the official Inaugural Parade, that’s what.

Representing America’s workers will be 265 union members from across Change to Win, the AFL-CIO, and the National Education Association (NEA), along with a 17-by-24 foot float built entirely by union workers and driven by a Teamster. The float will feature the “faces of labor” — a tribute every hard-working man and woman who gets up every day and goes to work. (In the photo above, you can see the faces as they wait to be mounted on the float.)

January 20 will be the start of a new era for American workers, so it’s fitting that hundreds of them will be marching alongside President-Elect Barack Obama to mark the occasion!