Labor Day

From MissLaura at DailyKos. Worth repeating here...

Union Bosses Making a Comeback?

I know John blogged about this a few weeks back, but I wanted to add to it.

If you've been listening to the radio or watching TV in Mississippi the past few weeks, you may get the impression that union bosses are making a comeback. According to Mississippians for Employee Freedom, the latest Republican group to make a splash down here, Ronnie Musgrove is trying to take away your right to vote through big bad union bosses.




That's at least what I heard the first time- as I'm sure many people did.

It's ludicrous to think that "union bosses" are going to take over Mississippi politics. The real culprits are the faceless groups that pump millions of dollars into our state with commercials filled with misinformation like these airing right now.

Just as an FYI to this Employee Freedom group, since apparently they missed something major in their commercial: Ronnie Musgrove is not our current Senator, and though we want him to get elected in November, our current Senator is Roger Wicker, and he's the one who votes on behalf of our state (like when he voted against raising the pay for troops a few weeks ago).

Just another ridiculous stunt...

Dirty Election-Time Tricks

I received the following in a e-mail:

This is to report that vandals cut through lines on all four air-conditioning units at the AFL-CIO Headquarters in Jackson last night, Thursday, October 18. Robert Shaffer reports that they worked diligently through the day today and will be on the job undaunted, preparing to help worthy candidates during the last weeks of the General Election. "They think they'll stop us," Shaffer said. "They just don't know who they're messing with. But, we must be doing something right, or they wouldn't be so worried about us."

Bryant Pitches; Franks Hits It Out Of The Park

Dewey Phil Bryant held a press conference today to highlight a business groups endorsement and to attack Jamie Franks for his support of organized labor. This is Franks' response:

"My opponent is proud to have the support of an organization that continually has fought against an increase in the minimum wage. As someone who worked his way through college, I am proud to fight for our working families and for an increase in the minimum wage.

As for supporting the creation of a Department of Labor; consolidating state government is the conservative thing to do. Judging by my opponent's pathetic record as state auditor, he knows little about running an effective and efficient government agency.

As the only state in the union without a Department of Labor, taxpayers are missing out on the tens of millions of federal funds that our state government would be entitled to if we had such a department. Its creation would streamline services and consolidate six or seven state bureaucracies into one, providing employers and workers with a one-stop shop, saving taxpayers money."

If you want the endorsement of an organization, you better be prepared to answer for the main positions of that organization. The NFIB has consistently opposed legislation that would support working people and we can only assume that they will expect a similar record from Dewey Phil. I'll gladly side with regular working people any day over folks who seem to think that someone can reasonably support themselves or a family on five dollars an hour.

God Bless American Labor

The labor movement brought us weekends, paid sick days, helped end child labor, and won healthcare coverage for union and nonunion members alike.

As we stop today to remember why there is a "Labor" day, it is important to remember that without the union movement and the union job many of us would be in a very different place.

Without unions what we know as the modern American Middle Class would not exist and economic stratification would look a whole lot worse.

So when you hear people disparaging a union ask yourself why they hold that position and where they get their information. Chances are the folks they're hearing from share none of your economic priorities.

God Bless American Labor.