How did unionism in America develop? What were the various forces at work? What is going on now. This pamphlet will tell you everything you want to know, and probably some things you don't want to know about unions in America today. It includes many surprising facts and data not publicly available eslewhere.
It offers a brief history of the American union movement, and the individuals and ideas that created it. It discusses unions' ugly turn to the left in recent years, the reintroduction of communists into the leadership ranks, and the extensive destruction and political corruption that has occurred as a result.
It reviews the economics of unionism and why, over the long run, unions will fail to provide promised benefits to members, and instead only serve to dramatically reshape and sometimes destroy industries.
Public employee unons present problems all their own. They engender creation of a symbiotic relationship between the union and its political supporters, inevitably leading to the corruption of the political process.
The most recent glaring example of this was the Wisconsin experience, where modest proposals for public union reform practically brought the state to a standstill. Though they lost miserably, the unions are still fighting this one, while Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker turned a $3.6 billion deficit into a surplus with his first budget, directly as a result of union reform.
Meanwhile unions have changed. Unions struggled to purge themselves of communists in the 1940s and 1950s and unions were associated with blue collar conservatism for decades. In 1995, however, union officials lifted the ban on allowing communists in leadership positions. This new nexus of the radical left and union activists, along with the election of President Obama, has seen union activity on behalf of politicians increased to an unprecedented level.
It offers a brief history of the American union movement, and the individuals and ideas that created it. It discusses unions' ugly turn to the left in recent years, the reintroduction of communists into the leadership ranks, and the extensive destruction and political corruption that has occurred as a result.
It reviews the economics of unionism and why, over the long run, unions will fail to provide promised benefits to members, and instead only serve to dramatically reshape and sometimes destroy industries.
Public employee unons present problems all their own. They engender creation of a symbiotic relationship between the union and its political supporters, inevitably leading to the corruption of the political process.
The most recent glaring example of this was the Wisconsin experience, where modest proposals for public union reform practically brought the state to a standstill. Though they lost miserably, the unions are still fighting this one, while Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker turned a $3.6 billion deficit into a surplus with his first budget, directly as a result of union reform.
Meanwhile unions have changed. Unions struggled to purge themselves of communists in the 1940s and 1950s and unions were associated with blue collar conservatism for decades. In 1995, however, union officials lifted the ban on allowing communists in leadership positions. This new nexus of the radical left and union activists, along with the election of President Obama, has seen union activity on behalf of politicians increased to an unprecedented level.
