Five things you need to know about the assault on labor rights in Wisconsin

By J.R. Strikes

1.)    It’s not just about Wisconsin.  When Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker stripped public workers of their collective bargaining rights, it was part of a national strategy to destroy unions across the United States.  Similar legislation has been filed or passed in at least fifteen states.  In Ohio, an anti-union bill called “SB-5” has already passed.  In Michigan, House Bill 4214 grants new “emergency powers” to Gov. Rick Snyder including the power to unilaterally eliminate labor contracts, end bargaining agreements, and even dissolve locally elected governments.

2.)    It’s not just politics.   The attack on unions goes beyond GOP politics.  It is being driven by billionaire right-wing ideologues such as Charles and David Koch.  The Koch brothers inherited a massive chemical company (Koch Industries) which is now ranked as the second most valuable privately held company in the United States.  For decades, they have used their inherited fortunes to promote a brand of “free-market” libertarian dogma that essentially translates to corporate power at all costs; and corporate power above all else.  They are considered by many to be the nation’s most affluent and effective opponents of regulations intended to protect workers and the environment.  They campaign rabidly against virtually all funding for public services like education, libraries, job training programs, home care for seniors and people with disabilities, social security, and healthcare.  The Koch brothers are a driving force behind many right wing think tanks and PR initiatives.  They co-founded the right-wing Cato Institute and are major backers of the Heritage Foundation.  They also have funded many of the “astro-turf” groups like Americans for Prosperity that played a key role in bankrolling and engineering the so-called tea party movement.

3.)    Your bathroom might be funding the attack on workers rights.  Depending on what brand of toilet paper you buy, you could be flushing away your democratic rights.  The commercial front-end of Koch Industries is Georgia-Pacific, Corp – one of the largest toilet paper manufacturers in the country.  In the United States, Georgia-Pacific produces several brands of toilet paper – including Quilted Northern, Angel Soft, Sparkle, Soft ‘n Gentle, and Mardi Gras.  Under the Georgia-Pacific brand, the Koch brothers also manufacture Vanity Fair disposable plates, Brawny paper towels, and Dixie brand cups. 

Yes, those are the same Dixie cups that once featured the cartoon heroes of your youth – now available with Sponge Bob Square Pants designs!  You’ll also find Georgia-Pacific (GP) towel dispensers and bathroom fixtures in many commercial and industrial bathrooms, perhaps even where you work.

So, if possible, try to skip the GP brands listed above and also listed on the GP website. Try seeking out non-GP brands like Seventh Generation, which donates 10% of their profits to non-profit community, health, and environmental charities – and not towards crushing workers rights. 

If you own a business or work for any sort of business that might be open to it, look into non-GP companies that can provide commercial/industrial restroom and paperware products.  Koch Industries acquired GP in 2005 for $21 billion – the largest acquisition of a publicly traded company by a private firm in U.S. history – so they don’t need more funding from us to fight against our own democratic rights.  For readers in Europe, popular Koch consumer brands there include Lotus, Colhogar, Delica, Tenderly, and Demak’Up facial cleanser.

4.)    Walker’s initial “budget plan” was a Trojan horse.  For weeks, Governor Walker offered his anti-union legislation as part of a larger legislative package that he tried to brand as an emergency budget balancing bill.  But when fourteen Democratic Senators fled Wisconsin and prevented Walker and his GOP cronies from voting on legislation pertaining to state finances, Walker rammed through the anti-union portions of the bill anyway, violating state open meeting laws and touching off a major court battle over the legality of his actions.  In the end, the Governor’s true goals were exposed.  Thanks to massive demonstrations by labor, community, and student allies who effectively took over the Wisconsin capital building, Walker’s favorability ratings among voters have nosedived. Supporters of workers rights have begun a massive recall petition campaign against several of the GOP senators who backed Walker’s anti-union bill, in addition to starting a recall campaign against the Governor himself. 

Voters and even mainstream press have begun questioning Walker’s actions prior to his declaration of an economic crisis.  A closer look shows Walker himself created the Wisconsin budget problems through a series of fat handouts and tax breaks for his super-wealthy backers – like the Koch Brothers.  In fact, one version of Walker’s bill would have conveniently allowed him emergency powers to sell off state resources such as power plants and water refineries to private industry tycoons like the Koch Brothers – without any meaningful bidding or regulatory review process.

5.)    The attack on union rights is a crossroads for our generation.  The good news is that these attacks on fundamental labor rights seems to be awakening many atrophied segments of the labor movement – while raising awareness of unions amongst some younger workers and students.  Workers in the types of jobs that can’t be shipped overseas – like healthcare workers, janitors, taxi cab drivers, and even baristas – are campaigning for unions not just in the workplace, but also organizing with co-workers online. As a result of Wisconsin, the scope of the conversation around union rights is expanding. 

Those of us considered part of Generations X, Y, and even younger have in many ways been surviving in the workforce off the diminishing returns from gains and rights that our parents and grandparents earned by being union members.  Even if your parents or grandparents didn’t carry a union card, they likely benefited from gains workers made in the decades when union membership in the United States was highest. 

In the 1950s, union membership was as high as 36%.  Today, it is approximately 11%.  When considering a factory, retail, or service job, prior generations would naturally want to know if the job was part of a union – so they’d know if the pay and benefits could sustain a family. 

When members of Generation X and Y consider a job, many are more likely to think about whether the boss will let us listen to an iPod on the job than whether it’s a union job.  That outlook amongst young workers must change soon, or the race to the bottom we’re experiencing will only continue to accelerate.  Oen can hope that this attack on our basic rights – beginning with Wisconsin – will help our generation realize that we need unions.  Hopefully, we will start to consider our status on the job – and the way we are treated by our employers – to be more important than our status on Facebook.  Through new technologies, we are able to express our voices online in ways that prior generations never dreamed of.  But now, in real life, it is time to stand up and protect our right to a voice at work, or else we will continue to work harder for less – with dwindling opportunities to ever earn a living wage or respectable benefits for our labor.

There are unions for every type of job in which you work for wages.  If there isn’t a union in your area for your type of work, you can create your own with your co-workers.  You can get active today by contacting organizations like Jobs with Justice, American Rights at Work, or your area’s labor council. 

The columnist is lead vocalist of Disaster Strikes and a full-time labor organizer.  Recent Disaster Strikes releases include The Interrogation Sessions EP on Alternative Tentacles and a split 7” with Bring Down the Hammer issued by Overdose on Records.   For more, visit www.disasterstrikes.net.