Louisville Firefighter: "The working class will not stand idly by"
>
> On March 2, 2011, hundreds of union members and their community allies
> rallied in downtown Louisville to express their support for public
> workers, education, public services, and for all workers, especially those
> in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio who are fighting for their rights.
>
> The mood was electric as the crowd cheered on eloquent speakers including
> firefighter Brian O'Neill, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 345 Louisville
> Professional Firefighters. He has asked us to share his comments:
>
>
> "I would like to thank Ms. Scott for organizing this event and inviting
> the LPFF to be a part of it. Thanks to the members of LPFF Local #345 for
> allowing me to represent them and speak on their behalf. Mostly, thanks
> to all of the people who have come out here to show their support for
> public workers and make a statement with their presence that the working
> class will not stand idly by and watch their hard earned rights get taken
> away by corporate and financial powers and the politicians that they have
> bought and paid for.
>
> Make no mistake - what is happening in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio . .
> . and is threatening to happen in so many other areas of our great nation
> . . . is an attack on unions, and an attack on the ability of workers to
> organize and collectively bargain for their rights. There are many on the
> far right that want to see our nation return to the economics of the
> nineteenth century. They use terms like the 'FREE MARKET' and 'RIGHT TO
> WORK', but what does that really mean?
>
> That means that wealthy plutocrats, the heads of corporations and
> financial institutions, have the freedom to do whatever they wish without
> oversight, without safety regulations. That they have the freedom to keep
> every bit of the wealth that their employees earn for them - while the
> workers have the right to work for whatever scraps the bosses feel like
> dropping off the table.
>
> They want a return to the conditions that packed hundreds of people
> desperate to work seven days a week for pennies, into a textile plant
> like the Triangle shirtwaist factory in New York. On a Saturday in 1911,
> a fire in that factory caused the deaths of 146 workers. Most of the exit
> doors had been locked to keep workers from taking needed breaks in the
> stairwells, and the rickety fire escape collapsed under the weight of
> people trying to save themselves. Workers could not get out, and
> firefighters could not get in to save them.
>
> They want a return to the conditions that make workers so desperate, that
> they will take whatever job they can at whatever pay they can get,
> regardless of the lack of benefits or safety standards. Like when our own
> firefighters worked a continuous shift, and only had two days off a month.
> It took the organizing power of our union to earn for us the right to
> work one day on, and one day off – and eventually one day on with two off
> – so that now, while we spend one third of our lives serving our
> communities, we now have the other 2 to enjoy the fruits of our labor with
> our families.
>
> When workers began organizing in the late 19th and early 20th century, the
> corporate and financial powers (along with their government influence) did
> all that they could to prevent it – from firing people, taking their
> property, or even sending out hired thugs to threaten or beat them and
> their families, burn down their homes, or even murder them. The courage
> and solidarity of those people built the foundations of the American
> workplace and the American worker as we know it today. The 8 hour work
> day-unions, the 40 hour work week-unions, the concept of a weekend-unions,
> and worker's compensation laws – unions.
>
> By the 1950's, one of every three American workers belonged to a union –
> and at that time the middle class was as strong as it has ever been. The
> worker had more buying power, a higher standard of living, and a larger
> share of the wealth that they created. But the corporate fat cat's want
> to keep every bit of the wealth that their workers create for them.
>
> The average U.S. CEO in 1965 earned 24 times more than an average worker.
> That ratio grew to 35 in 1978. As corporations realized that they were
> having to pay fair wages and benefits to American workers, they realized
> that they could simply move their operations overseas – exploit those
> workers by recreating the unsafe sweatshops that once existed in our own
> country, pay those workers scraps, and boost their own profits. Private
> sector union membership declined, and at the same time corporate revenues
> continued to rise. By 2007, the average U.S. CEO earned 262 times that of
> the average worker. And yet we still see politicians that believe that
> the path to economic recovery is to give more money and tax breaks to
> those corporations.
>
> Trickle Down Economics Does Not Work. In our recent economic crisis,
> working families have lost over $10 Trillion in wealth (income, homes,
> benefits, retirement) - our economy shed 10 million jobs - and
> corporate profits are up 44%. Bankers bonuses since the bailout are over
> $30 Billion and not a single individual in the financial sector has seen
> the inside of a jail cell.
>
> So what does this mean to our public sector workers? They can't pack up
> and move overseas. Our children are educated by teachers right here, and
> receive police and fire protection right here. We are one of the last
> obstacles to these plutocrats. Public sector unions are one of the most
> effective groups when it comes to mobilizing people to vote – and they
> know that we are not going to vote for those that wish to take away
> workers' rights. Our pensions are a great benefit earned by a life of
> hard work and sacrifice, and wall street institutions want to get their
> hands on that money. They did such a wonderful job with the housing
> market, so it is no wonder why we do not want them taking over our pension
> funds.
>
> The average public employee pension is only $28k a year, yet millionaire
> right wing pundits will find that one case of a worker that put in enough
> hours and stayed enough years to earn a much higher pension and try to use
> it as a typical example. Never mind that the worker put in the extra
> hours and the extra years to earn that pension.
>
> By trying to break up public sector unions, the corporate, financial, and
> political powers are trying to remove an obstacle to their power
> structure. What the American public needs to know, what voters need to
> know, is that every right and every benefit that we have was negotiated
> and agreed upon by BOTH parties – labor and management. Collective
> bargaining works and it works both ways. It is not over until an
> agreement is reached between both parties.
>
> The powers working to destroy public sector unions in WI and IN are
> misdirecting people's attentions. Rather than comparing the haves and the
> have nots, they are trying to drive a wedge between the have nots and the
> have a littles. They point to teachers, police officers, and firefighters
> and say "Look what they have that you don't – let's take it from them,"
> instead of, "let's get it for you." What we as proud union members say
> is, "Do not push down the middle class, elevate those out of work back
> into it." Bring your factories back to America, cut your earnings back
> from 262 times that of the average worker to a modest 100 times -- and
> put America back to work.
>
> For all of our brothers and sisters fighting for their rights - the IAFF
> stands with you. Thank you very much."
>
> Brian O'Neill
> Secretary/Treasurer of the Louisville Professional Firefighters
> LPFF Local #345
>
> Sources:
> Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations
> National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems
> Economic Policy Institute
>
> Distributed by:
>
> All Unions Committee For Single Payer Health Care--HR 676
> c/o Nurses Professional Organization (NPO)
> 1169 Eastern Parkway, Suite 2218
> Louisville, KY 40217
>
> (502) 636 1551
> Email: nursenpo@aol.com
> http://unionsforsinglepayer.org/
> 03/14/2011
>
>
>
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