BY RUSSELL ANGLIN
Several union representatives talked about promoting the
political interests of
working people during the Amarillo Central Labor Council’s
annual Labor Day picnic
Monday at Memorial Park.
Unions and their members are coming under attack from state
governments across the
nation, said Joe Arabie, director of field education and
research for the Texas
AFL-CIO workers’ advocacy group.
“The state level is where the battles are being fought now
against unions,” Arabie said, addressing the crowd on a day
meant to honor workers’ contributions to the United States.
“They’re trying to take over collective bargain agreements,
they’re trying to take away your ability to participate in PAC
(political action committee) funds, they’re trying to take away
your ability to communicate to other workers on the job site
about organizing and what have you, so many things that they’re
out there trying to stop ... in some places they’re somewhat
accomplishing it,” he said.
“I would hope that everybody here is sick and tired of being
blamed for making too much money, for having a pension, for
having health care, for having a job … I’m sick and tired of
being blamed for the reason why the economy in this country is
what it is today.”
An important aspect of organized labor is the ability it gives
workers to collectively
endorse political candidates whom union members think will bring
jobs to the U.S., said Stanley McMinn, vice president of the
United Steelworkers Local Union No. 5613.
“The United States is rolling backwards,” McMinn said. “We’ve
sent all our jobs overseas and now people are unemployed, we’re
sitting back wondering what’s the problem. We need to get
America back to work and all these problems that we’re having
(will be) over.”
“Since that (2010) election, we’ve lost a lot of educational
monies. (Texas legislators) cut the education budget by $4
billion, and we’re losing a lot of teachers, staff,” Bosquez
said. “Students are being crowded into the classrooms now. I
don’t believe our students were part of the budget deficit. And
that’s how they say that they balanced the budget — on the backs
of our students. They also are doing away with a lot of programs
that help our seniors, our disabled, veterans — they’re doing
away with programs that support and help them. They did not
cause the budget deficit.
“Now workers — we work, we earn a decent wage … we earn
benefits. We worked for that. They didn’t give it to us. That’s
one thing that this Labor Day is for. Union members before
fought for what we have now. And we have to fight for what we
have now if we’re going to pass it on to our children and
grandchildren.”
