Union Perspectives

It's Now or Never

2026-10-04T17:40:52.322-07:00

Is it time to line up and stand up for our unions?

Is it time for labor unions to clear house and quit sending a mixed message to our union members?

At this time members see some of our leaders supporting GOP anti-union candidates and corporations and even voting for Trump and his anti-union laws. This has got to stop and the only way it will be is to just clean house of labor leaders who support the GOP Maga anti-union way of life.

Yes, some will leave the union and good riddance. We don’t need these people infiltrating our unions. They are just like Trojan horses and we cannot count on them in the fight for our lives and unions.

We need people who will fight and stand up for our unions. We should not have to be looking over our shoulders to see what’s coming at us—no matter what.

We have union leaders who are Maga Trump people and I know Trump has no union people working for his private business and if he did they will never cross him or get very loud.

When we have a mixed message and mixed loyalty, our unions look weak and and unorganized. We need a solid front in order to get respect.

Recently, the public held a ‘No Kings” protest. Unions members made fun of these people saying, no one would show up for it. But they did. And the turn out was huge. These protesters were and are marching for the people and our country and our voter rights and to protect our right to unionize.

Instead of making fun of people, all workers should be out there supporting the No Kings protests. Protesters do not want more wars, more inflation, continued hikes in groceries and gas prices, Ice agents running amok.

We need to rebuild our unions just to try to keep up with the rampant onslaught against organized labor. Look at our labor history before unions came into existence. It was grim. Our labor unions need to be three-times the number of Ice agents. If we lose our fight we will just be slaves to the AI corporations and billionaires,

Unions need to get our contracts to end as close as we can to 2028 April 1st at 12 noon and support the other unions — building trades, Longshoreman, all transportation and government unions.

With this power workers could shut down the corporations and win whatever demands we want.

It's now or never because if Trump and the GOP have their way, they will squash us into oblivion.

Artifical Intelligence and Then What?

2026-09-06T01:10:16.824-07:00

The fight to survive is going to be unions versus AI. Unions and all working people will need all the help they can get and it can be with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) train, which is kicking ass in the elections so far this year. This is an enormous opportunity for smart unions. Just look at New York City and its unions. Some were slow to see the opportunities available, but then came around to see the changes occurring all around them with the new mayor. It would be nice if America’s unions were able to make a decision to back the candidates who most accurately understand the reality of where the battle between labor and capitalism stands. The other reason is the rising power of the DSA is not going to stop. Unions do not want to start playing footsies with the Fascists. It looks, instead, to be a rising power of the Left and we need to recognize the fact that they can help change the Democratic party for the better and get rid of Democrats in name only otherwise known as DINOs. The unions lost that change with Bernie Sanders once. Let’s not do that again. At this point in time, unions can help be part of a solution for the party’s reform and get us to stand together in the AI fight for what happens to all people who will lose their jobs like 50 percent of white collar will lose their jobs, who are called the “Laptop Class” and then replace the blue collar jobs with robots. Amazon has more than one million robots in its distribution centers. The machines are soon expected to out number human workers. They will soon be in fast food outlets, supermarkets … they will be in every employment sector. Medical doctors will soon be making decisions with AI and, yes, robots will be replacing construction jobs. So, the workers need all the help we can get and the DSA could be the answer. But no matter what there will be lots of job losses so we must make the corporations pay, such as supporting a universal basic income just to keep the 99 percent coming after the AI people with pitch forks and all of the corporate leaders will not fit in Trump’s bunker. It’s just for him and particular family members. If the jobs are lost, who will be paying into Social Security? How long will it be before it is gone? What can replace Social Security? All of this uncertainty because of the greed and AI being used against workers’ future. Key terms to be aware of and will be taking over job security: AI = Artificial Intelligence AGI = Artificial General Intelligence AGSI = Artificial General Super Intelligence LLM = Large Language Models

Every Vote Matters

2026-08-20T00:26:58.098-07:00

Union members at the ballot box to pretend this election cycle is business as usual is to engage in a dangerous form of political malpractice.

Not only do we, union members, have to get out and vote, we have to vote smart and elect people who are union supporters. Every vote matters.

Then we must show just how much power unions have by getting our members to vote for people who will stand up for our rights and support. More than twenty-eight countries are fighting for four-day work weeks in Europe, North America, Asia, Oceania, South America and Africa.

The United Arab Emirates has the most averaged hours worked a week at 46.5 hours followed by South Africa at 42.5 hours. The U.S. has been 40 hours a week.

We have to vote smart, not by political parties, but vote for candidates who support unions and workers. We have to show just how much power we have by getting our members to vote for people who will stand for better working hours at the same pay, fight against right to work laws, support free education up to at least a bachelor’s degree, wage laws, healthcare, among other entitlements that make life easier for the average citizen.

The next election will give us hope or break us. All workers, union or not, must turn out and all retired people who need to keep Social Security and Medicare. If we can pull this off this election win then we will have a good chance in 2027 to get rid of the cancer, which is destroying our country and the world. We also have to fight off the artificial intelligence (AI) which is not only taking jobs but destroying the environment and using water resources people and animals need. The people who lose their jobs due to

AI, what do they do now without a job?

We should be looking at a universal basic income paid for by the AI corporations just to keep people off the streets and to keep our economy funded with spending on goods that would be replaced by labor. All labor, working or not, need to talk to each other and vote Blue to save our country and our way of life.

A New Declaration of Independence is Needed

2026-08-01T10:01:28.269-07:00

We need a third Declaration of Independence. In order for that to happen labor the world over must come together to beat back the “Trumpfication” of the world.

The way to start the pushback is to participate in a blackout scheduled for August 1 through the 7th.

We think we have the people power so let’s test it during the August Blackout.

Let’s use some of labor’s $38 billion war chest to promote these types of progressive activities to see if we can pull off the Holy Grail—a worldwide strike on April 1, 2028 and we need to demand a third Declaration of Independence and those of us in the United States as well as other underpaid countries want a good livable wage starting at least at $24 and hour, good pensions, healthcare with no out of pocket costs, a four-day week, the right to vote, the right to form unions, government laws on artificial intelligence, a universal basic income to compensate for the loss of jobs, free schooling to at least a bachelor’s degree or in a trade training.

Other countries have benefits that are in this list, so why them and not us? The answer is unsatiated greed on the part of the rich and corrupt politicians. It’s time to take on the oligarchs before they destroy everything in their quest to be the richest person.

It’s past times to tax the uber wealthy on their greed, but until then we need to demonstrate the working class, who’s labor is actually the reason the wealthy got that way, need to come together and show them our solidarity in not spending, not our scrolling on social media or spending our money during the Aug. 1-7 blackout.

We can’t bring about change by whining. We need to come together and show the greedy our true strength—withholding our money.

For the People by the People

2026-06-21T20:17:15.649-07:00

We've been through this shit before. On January 10, 1776, Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense, The Rights of Man, a 47-page pamphlet outlining the rights of Americans deserved emancipation from Great Britain. “We, the people, can change the world,” he wrote. Just as the new Americans beat the British Monarchy in 1776, we, today, can and will beat back oligarchies of the world in 2026. This will be done with union people power the world over. It will be the most powerful army of the world, We, union people, will demand a new world for the people, not just for the oligarchies and their families. We will demand healthcare, elder care, child care, free schools for all levels of education, voting rights, right to unionize, good wages, safe working conditions, pensions adequate enough to live on, climate change mitigations, and LGBTQ rights. It will be a government for the people by the people, not the corporations and oligarchies pulling the strings of those who make the decisions. We can eliminate this government and its’ blood thirty war of distractions. It will be the people against the 1 percent and they will have to join us because there will be no place for them to hide on this earth. Maybe they’ll see this or other articles shaming them for their unbridled greed and stop building space ship to hide out orbiting earth until it’s save to return or hiding out in their New Zealand underground facilities. We cannot stand idly by and let them destroy our earth and government without putting up a fight. We can start our fight by having a world-wide strike on May 1, 2028, beginning at twelve noon. Now is the time to prepare and be ready to fight for our rights. History teaches us that progress comes from the bottom up not from the top down, because why would people who have everything care about people who are barely getting by? Every major expansion has been won by ordinary people in the streets. We will also want a four-daywork week and a universal basic income to cover the loss of jobs to AI. This could be our new 4th of July worldwide with no kings.

AI vs Workers

2026-04-30T01:59:00.000-07:00

A look at union labor and the advent of AI, the good and bad of it on working people. The bad is more people moving to hands on labor from white color, higher educated people who have lost their jobs to AI. So, hands on high school workers will be competing with people with bachelors and masters degree for jobs that will end up being a union problem. But the good news is that labor unions will have highly educated workers who will turn to labor activism and will view the economic inequality and activism is the best way to fight it. But unions must remember that the holy grail of corporations is that AI will replace all workers and this is why unions should be watching for it will happen with a thousand small cuts so unions must make the large corporations pay for the jobs that are taken by AI. The money could go into a unemployment or UBI to keep the U.S. people off the streets. If we don’t have a safety nether the consequences of AI. We will see the people in the streets with pitchforks and no one in the government or corporations will be able to hide or remain safe. Now is the time to checkmate this AI movement. All we union members need to do is educate our workers about what we are building. Yes, we will take the work but that doesn’t mean we don’t know about the long range damage to the building we are working on will do so look at it like building a dam. It is a good thing until the dam breaks and it will. AI will be the dam that breaks. So, all workers need a plan and now is the time before it’s too late. Corpations and oligarchs have absolutely no concern for workers just trying to make ends meet. Big Tech companies are expected to spend $650 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026. Fifty-two percent of workers are concerned about the use of AI in the workplace. Seventy-six percent of Americans say its important to be able to discern whether content was generated by AI or by people due to the manipulation that people can do with AI.

What Do You Deserve?

2026-04-12T23:04:00.000-07:00

The survival of American democracy requires the existence of a flourishing union work force. In a survey, 68 percent of Americans approve of labor unions. So, as an old sheet metal organizer, I say we need to go all out in organizing while the soldering iron is hot, to use a sheet metal workers tool. We should organize all workers no matter where or what kind of work they do. All workers have the right to belong to a union and all should support each other. If you, in your work place, do not know how to form a union, then do what Napoleon’s military adopted adage, ‘Jump into the battle and then figure it out.’ One of the best ways to organize is worker to worker and plan it out over a meal or coffee and talk to other union workers to see what would work best for you and also what unions are winning at this time. Just go for it. When things are in disarray, like the shit show in Washington, D.C., they might not even know what you are doing until it is too late for them to push back against your union ambitions. Another area to be cognizant of is workers who have been brained washed into thinking they don’t need or want a union. Their ignorance is going to have to be reprogrammed to understand how much they are being denied and how much they deserved what a union can help them get. Workers deserve more than what they're settling for. Don’t give up on your fight for a union, you, your family and coworkers deserve a better life. Fight for a good living wage, you shouldn’t have to do without while many bosses are buying yachts and you can’t afford a canoe. Check with the Service Employees International if you need help or advice.

Have the MAGA/FBI infiltrated Labor Unions?

2026-02-27T18:17:00.000-08:00

Have FBI agitators infiltrated our labor unions like the FBI did during black rights movement, feminist movement, and anti-Vietnam protests to sow the seeds of division between the factions and Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammed—to control and disrupt our labor movements from the inside? We don’t know at this time, and is anyone in the media or government looking into this? The war on labor and the effort to drag us back to serf wages is coming from within the White House with some labor union and MAGA members. Corporations are padding their accounts and of one greedy man instead of its workers. The war on labor is and will be fought between corporation titans and labor, and at this time the corporations will use the White House, courts and the FBI and even those at Homeland Security and I.C.E. against us. Labor must educate our members on how counter and what tactics are being used by the corporations and government against labor and the average person in general. How many people have lost their jobs and business since the current administration took office again. Labor needs to educate our members on how and what tactics that were used the government and corporations in the 1920s and ‘30s, We have the play books used back then to succeed against the latest attack on workers today. We must educate our workers about this fight and how best to fight back to protect our rights, our unions and our lives. It is all in our history—the good to the bad—and the ugly. We know we have supporters of the current administration in our unions, which seems like an oxymoron. Why would workers support an administration that is hellbent on destroying our protections on every level? I would not be surprised to learn that the FBI is working right beside people in our union offices and on the job in some fashion. This is really happening so let’s protect and expose them while we still can before they do great damage to us and our way of life. Damage that we may not be able to repair. They will try to divide the CIO and the AFL. Also, between the trade labor must not fall for any of these tactics.

Trump hates Unions

2026-02-03T00:36:00.000-08:00

Unions best weapon is the right to go to the streets. It is great to see our unions out in the streets with the public protesting ICE and the abuses they are using against innocent people and the things ICE are doing, like killing people. We must keep supporting these protests around the country. If we back down and lose the right to protest we, the unions, will lose the biggest weapon we have—our right to go to the street when we are wronged by the corporations or the government. So we can never lose this weapon of union labor and the people. Union members know that Trump and his corporate buddies do not like or want unions so why in the hell would any union member support or vote for any person who runs as a Republican Trump supporter--Trump and the GOP hate unions? If this is what you support then just go nonunion and lose all the benefits unions have fought for and become one of the poorly educated that Trump “loves,” though he’s incapable of any emotion aside from greed. Unions don’t need members who don’t support unions and who don’t have our workers’ backs when the real fight begins, which is coming and this will be all hands on deck. We can’t rely on our politicians since they have as yet to use the laws on the books that would rein this mad man in. This is an all hands on deck to win the mid-term elections and those in 2028. Trump wants to be king and is trashing our established norms in his quest to achieve the throne. We will be in the streets and all must trust and support each other to win. ICE is not about just rounding up the brown people. It is Trump’s own private army just like Hitler’s Brown Shirts were. All I ask is if you don’t believe me, just Google Hitler’s Brown Shirts and America’s Silver Shirts. They are the same and they don’t like unions or people having the freedom to make decisions on who they vote for as leader of this country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Legion_of_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturmabteilung Let's prove Sigmund Freud wrong when he said, "Most people do not want freedom, because freedom involves responsibilty."

Unions Expand or Face Extinction

2026-01-01T23:14:00.000-08:00

In 2026 unions worldwide must educate and expand their memberships or face certain death. We need to educate our workers to understand that the republican party does not care about, does not deserve their support or votes and only cares about the billionaires. The GOP is their enemy and not their friends. The GOP and billionaires are the workers’ enemy. They want the workers’ sweat and blood for as cheap as they can get it. These greedy people and their insatiable appetite for more leaving us with much less will not stop until we’re forced to work for scraps and fighting each other for the pittance. They will not invite you to golf with them or go hunting or to dinner with them. In fact, they are always in pursuit of ways to destroy our unions and the way of life we’ve obtain by being union. One way they are doing this is to use the court system, especially the lop-sided Supreme Court, to take away our union rights and to get more states to vote for The Right to Work, which leaves workers earning less money and no healthcare or other benefits. We need to understand just what these people stand for when we vote for them, and if the membership doesn’t know how or don’t have the time to research the candidate then your union leaders should be providing the information to its members. If not, then it’s up to the members to do their own research and one way is to follow the candidates on social media to see they live up to what they say they stand for and to check out their likes and comments. This is a war between the 99 percent and the 1 percenters. It is a “do or die” situation for us and the year 2026 will be our last chance to save our unions’ way of life. There is no going back. We have to win the next elections or all is lost. Put all the bullshit aside, don’t take them at their word. It’s winner take all and they are way ahead of us in the game. When it comes to voting, put your unions, families, wages, benefits, Social Security first and foremost.

GOP Doesn't Support Unions

2025-12-15T22:05:00.000-08:00

It’s time for all union members to get rid of the union members and leaders who support the GOP and its Right to Work agenda. Trump, billionaires, the GOP, and the corporate people all hate unions and any union member who votes for these GOP candidates are just scabs who are not only riding on the backs of good hard working union people but also they are dragging their feet to keep the unions from moving forward. If these so called union people cannot see their way to vote and support people who fight and support unions then they should not vote or just get the hell out of our union labor because you are killing us by your foot dragging interference. All of our union people need to understand this is an ‘us against them’ situation and Trump and his anti union corporations are not your friend and if a union person thinks they are you are dumber than a post. Trump and the corporations do not care at all about you or your family. Once they have your vote you’re of no use to them. Trump’s net worth since taking office this time has increased to $7.3 billion. Tell me how you can relate to him or vice versa? You are simply a means to an end and a sucker to him. The death of unions is occurring because of these foot draggers and their leaders supporting Trump and his non-union maga agenda with the complicit GOP. In every special district, such as school board, water boards, fire boards, state, county and city boards all need union supporting members to have our backs. Ask yourself why are some people who never get their hands dirty entitled to billions of dollars and those of us who do the actual work and keep this country functioning are working for chump change? If you can’t bring yourself to vote for a union supporting Democrat, then do your union co-workers a favor and just don’t vote.

They'll Be Coming For All Of Us

2025-11-20T00:33:00.000-08:00

Yes, they are coming for us. Workers need to have one another’s backs because no one else will. Neither the broader labor movement nor the Democratic party are prepared to meet the urgency of this moment. So it’s going to fall upon the rest of us to mount a real resistance against Trump’s authoritarian takeover. We’re going to have to get our hands dirty. I don’t care if you have a good, well-paying union job and you are in the middle class now—if you see a worker being dragged out of his workplace regardless of how skilled the job and potentially taken to another country, you should be ready to be there for that worker. When I.C.E. shows up, gather around and shame them into leaving. It has worked in other places. America is sleep walking into authoritarianism, and if there’s anyone out there who is a member of a labor union that is safe—at this point— and doesn’t think this applies to them. Understand that they just haven’t gotten to you yet. They’re coming for all of us. There are groups whose only goal is to take what makes us strong—our ability to stand together as one. They will cause chaos by turning our differences into divisions. We see these ideas baked into efforts like Project 2025, and advanced by groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council and the Fraser Institute. All union members need to know about these people and their destructive plans for workers. Their only goal is to destroy the labor unions and all the protections and retirement benefits that unions provide for workers. This isn’t about ‘left’ or ‘right’, all workers are going to be screwed if they get their way. This is about right and wrong—and they are wrong for workers.

We Are the Power

2025-11-05T13:10:00.000-08:00

Looks like there is hope for the union workers and our country for the union people who believed Trump’s lies, who now know that he was just full of bullshitting all of you. He said the he would bring more work to this country, but took away money from job projects, and the ones that were too late to stop, Trump put his name on it and is taking credit for the work done. Trump is not a union supporter and the people who work for him do not support unions either because they all get their money from big corporations, who are notoriously anti-union. The entire GOP is bought and paid for by large corporations, such as Home Depot, Walmart, Chamber of Commerce and many other nonunion selfish companies. We all have a chance to change things and take it all back if we dare by voting blue in the mid-term elections. If we vote for things that are what we really need like healthcare, good pensions, living wages, voting rights, more affordable housing, and rent control. In other words, let’s get all things we need and want like a four-day work week like other countries have. We're supposed to be the greatest nation on earth, yet workers are treated like crap compared to other countries. In order to get these things we have to elect the people who will vote for unions and workers not corporations’ interests and then hold their feet to the fire. We also need to show the right wing GOP our power. The No Kings Day was just a powerful start. What we need to do next is a national strike. No one buys or works for one day. Money is all the billionaire money hoarders understand and have for they lack the normal human appreciation for one another and all living things. We could accomplish these goals just like in Jack London’s fictional book The Iron Heel where all the workers stopped working. Before they did the work stoppage they saved money and food for their families and the rich were caught with no supplies or a way to get them or food, help, fuel or even chores done. They were at a disadvantage because they had taken their employees for granted and assumed they had the upper hand until the workers showed who truly had the upper hand. It could be done if we had the support of the Long Shoreman’s union. If they shut down everything shuts down. That’s real power. That's our power. Our international unions need to be watching out for the ‘want-to-be’ Trumpers in other countries, who think workers are dispensable. We need to fight against all the despots in the world because no one is coming to our rescue.

Now is the Time to Prepare

2025-10-07T22:23:00.000-07:00

I hope that I am wrong, but what I see at this time is our unions are going to be in the fight of their existence. This is the most perilous time of our life. The life we had is threatened like never before. Unions are the largest organized group of people who can save our country if things keep going the way they are heading at this time. We need to all stand together for power, but we each must prepare and plan to take care of ourselves and our families. We can fight the big fight and not be distracted by worry about things that can and should already be taken care of. For instance, stashing at least one month’s pay and at least a month or even a year’s worth of food, whether the food is staples (pasta, rice, canned goods) and meat or chicken in the freezer. Keep your vehicles' tanks full and if possible a gas can full. It’s in your best interest to also save money for house or rent payments plus extra. This is not new thinking for us old trade workers who had to prepare when going on strike or when the work slowed down or inclement weather occurred and we were laid off. Those unfamiliar with the Latter Day Saints or Mormons practice of keeping a year’s worth of food for their families just in case and “preppers” do the same with their bug-out bags. If it all turns out fine and labor isn’t destroyed, we will be ahead of the game. But if things get really bad then we will just be able to think a little clearer when you’re not worrying about food, shelter and money problems. This way we can put all our energy towards rebuilding or holding on to our union way of life. Just a few months of planning ahead could make big difference so let’s do as much as we can while we still have a chance. Good luck to all.

Pensions Are Our Money

2025-10-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

Robots—Pensions—Organizing Labors must organize millions more union members. At this point labor is doing nothing, but running out the clock on the very existence of our power, which is the people. The combined union assets is at $35 billion, but the total assets by collectively bargained pension pensions is trillions of dollars, according to labor writer Hamilton Nolar. We also must rethink how we invest our pension money and who is using it for union pensions. We are discovering union pensions have been and are financing labor’s own destruction when used by union/labor busting corporations. Maybe our union pensions should be used like the Southern California Service Employees International Union Local 721, which is pushing for the establishment of a Los Angeles Public Bank, which provide lower cost for affordable housing and more work. What and how is labor to deal with robots? Robots are displacing workers and their wages? One way to counter this would be to tax robots just like a human worker and this could be used to finance a universal basic income for the displaced workers. Labor needs to start using the pension money like a weapon against labor busting corporations. There are trillions of dollars that could be used in this fight or at least stop the money from working against labor unions. Pensions are benefiting Wall Street more than the workers. Unions need to do a better job of vetting where pensions are invested because some companies invested in now oppresses the working class, according to Nolan. Unions must think creatively about the staggering pool of capital they command to get the most benefit for members. It’s our money so trusting predatory investment firms with our money to invest in antiunion corporations makes no sense.

National Strike Before It's Too Late

2025-09-20T21:31:00.000-07:00

Is it time for a national strike plan? Trump is destroying the union rights of thousands of workers by stripping union rights from six federal agencies, like the National Weather Service, NASA, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security Environmental Protection Agency by ending collective bargaining and taking over the office spaces used by unions. Trump has said to just ignore contracts for employees in specific unions. So federal workers who lost rights can no longer fight agencies over contract violations, such as safety and meal allowances. Workers are being fired without cause. Government workers are the core of labor’s power base and there has been no push back. The next thing they’ll go after is prevailing wage laws, which will hurt the non-workers for they will no longer receive the prevailing, which is the same as union wages, but the union workers will still get their union wages and benefits. However, will they face being underbid on jobs by nonunion shops so all will lose except the corporations, who are nonunion that pays whatever the hell they want, like $7.50 per hour that is still being paid to federal workers. Trump and the GOP, who will not stop until they destroy all unions and there has been no pushback from Democrats. We, in labor, keep saying that workers have the ultimate power because we can withhold our labor. So, where is the mass mobilization effort? Organized labor has only 6 to 10 percent or workers unionized. We cannot afford to not fight back. We are now under the most ruthless anti-labor president since the 1920s. This is the fight of our lives for labor unions and our democracy.

Time for New & Younger Politicians

2025-09-11T22:16:00.000-07:00

On June 27, 1905, Father Hegarty’s preamble to the International Workers of the World constitution opens with this sentence: “The Working class and the employing class have nothing in common.” So why are the old Democrats so worried about old guard Democrats so worried about taxing the billionaires? There is always another billionaire to replace one if should one move on from buying votes. The average fortune of the billionaire class is $5.3 billions an increase from $200 million in 2024. Social Justice is not possible without leveling the colossal accumulation of wealth and power that makes a mockery of the idea that we live in a democracy. The workers and unions must declare a class war and fight for what we want and need: good union jobs, four-day work weeks, good pensions, vacation time, healthcare for all with no out of pocket costs, elder care, free education up to an associates degree. The corporations we work for are the ones who benefit the most because they get better and healthier workers. This is not a wish list but affordable if the billionaires paid their fair share of taxes like the rest of us. If they want a world to enjoy their billions with clean air and water, and healthy communities, they need to start paying up. Maybe it’s time for another party of the 99 percenters willing to fight for the working and lower classes and retirees. The two-party system has lost its way and left the working class and poor in the dust. It’s time for a change. We’re not looking for a war to stimulate the economy and kill off our military members. We want and need politicians on both sides to fight for the average person and not the rich and corporations. We can’t get the changes this country desperately needs when we have so many geriatric members sitting in the Congress and the Senate, who don’t or won’t fight hard enough for what’s right. Maybe time's time for some new and younger members. List of our elderly elected officials. 91-year-old Chuck Grassley (R) 88-year-old Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) 87-year-old Hal Rogers (R) 87-year-old Grace F. Napolitano (D) 86-year-old Maxine Waters (D) 85-year-old Steny Hoyer (D) 85-year-old Nancy Pelosi (D) 84-year-old Jim Clyburn (D) 83-year-old Bernie Sanders (I) He’s still out there fighting for us. 83-year-old Mitch McConnell (R) 83-year-old Danny Davis (D) 83-year-old John Carter (R) 82-year-old Frederica Wilson (D) 82-year-old James Risch (R) 82-year-old Rosa DeLauro (R) 81-year-old Virginia Foxx (R) 81-year-old Chuck Shuman (D) 80-year-old Dick Durbin (D) 79-year-old Richard Blumenthal (D) 78-year-old Ed Markey (D) 78-year-old Jeanne Sheen (D) 77-year-old Mazie Hirono (D) Four elderly members died while in office, their ages ranged from 70 years old to 77 years.

It's Up To Us

2025-08-22T23:08:00.000-07:00

The AFL/CIO needs to start kicking some union ass. All unions must start having meetings and having union-oriented speakers and focus their meetings on their union history and struggles to get started and how to keep our unions. It's up to us. Unions did not just happen. There was blood spilled in the streets and many spent time in jail, and some even died for the union cause. Men, women and children were burned alive in tents, like at Ludlow, Colorado. Our union members’ families need to know what is going to happen with the GOP in charge they are out to destroy our unions. There is no one coming to our rescue. Forbes identified 902 billionaires on its 2025 list, but in 2024 the World Population Review reports there are 813. At what point does a person realize they have more money than they need or will spend in their life times. They want low wages, no benefits, no healthcare, not even Social Security. They want slave labor so they can become trillionaires. So at every meeting there should be videos or films on the union struggles—past and present—what they went through and what we arguing to do to keep our way of life. The members who get upset about who or what they will have to vote for in any election may reconsider falling for fake promises and out right liesthat Republicans promise or any candidate. Democrats may not always articulate their messages well (promoting fads), but very few have screwed over the unions. When people vote, they have to keep their unions in mind or less kiss their benefits and protections goodbye and take a nonunion job with low wages and no benefits. Most union members want people who they can trust behind their backs. Now the officers who are worried about losings votes to stay in office or getting elected to a union office need to get a backbone. If they don’t we will have no unions, and to rebuild what we have today will take 40 years or more. Maybe this is what it will take for the new people to come alive. I have my retirement and healthcare, I just hope I can keep it.

Commonality Between Unions and Volunteer Firefighters

2025-08-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

The volunteers/first responders, why do we need to keep them? Lots of union members are volunteer firefighters/first responders. One reason why is that when the State, counties, and cities go broke, the volunteers will still be responding because they don’t do this work as their primary job. There is a commonality between volunteer firefighters and union, both under attack. For them it’s about community and what they can do to make things safer and better for their families, neighbors, citizens, and visitors within that area. It’s about being selfless in a time when being greedy is becoming more commonplace in this country. But the state and federal governments are making this volunteerism harder with the regulations and laws that make no exemptions for the volunteer first responders. These same laws for full-time first responders are the same for volunteers, and it is not done for safety, but to weed out the volunteer first responders. The way it is done is to put more costs and requirements on training of the volunteers for a type of job that has worked for the 60 years that I know of. Follow the Money: the manufacturers of all fire engines and clothing have people sitting on all the different safety boards that make the rules, like the 10 year rule on turnouts (fire safety clothes), helmets, and now the rule that says each volunteer must have two sets of turnouts at a cost of between $2,000 to $3,000 a set. The then SCBA (breathing apparatus) keeps getting add-ons which out dates the sets at a cost of $2,000 to $3,000 a piece. If you want to know why there are less volunteer first responders, just follow the money and rules changes and who benefits. The beneficiaries are more than you think. Consider a death of volunteers by a thousand cuts or regulations. But the old volunteers will still show up if we let them. And you will be damn glad to have them when you’re bleeding out or your house is on fire. This is why some of the best volunteers are working at union jobs and retired union workers who have good pensions and time on their hands to volunteer for their communities’ betterment.

Are We Back to What Happened in 1903 London, England?

2025-07-20T17:07:00.000-07:00

The under world London, England’s Jack London in 1903 reveals that homelessness was attributed to foreign immigration, especially the migrants of Poland and Russian Jews, who were accused of taking the jobs of domestic workers by accepting lower wages, which lead to a sweatshop system. In the “People of the Abyss”, which recounts the struggles of London in 1903, the unhoused population was made to keep moving by walking all night if they stopped or stood still, the cops would make them move on. At daybreak, the parks would open and the people were allowed to sleep on the benches or grass. Free breakfast were served at the Salvation Army facility. This was called the “peg,” which meant the place where they could obtained a free meal. The people, who partook in the meals, referred to the Salvation Army as “soul snatchers,” because the “free food” came at a cost in that they had to listen to the Salvation Army’s sermons. As was then is now, as cheap wages are incorrectly blamed on immigration, but the true fault of low wages is the competition corporations create when they cut the pay of those hired and not of the people being hired. Today, we see hard working immigrants being penalized for doing the work the rest of us do not want to do. Wages do not come down where there are unions. Unions check on competition among all workers to ensure no one is being cheated. This is why corporations want to stop new unions from forming or trying to break the existing unions. The heads of corporations want the working class fighting each other for jobs while the owners increase their wealth. It is the same today as it was in 1903. Today the U.S. has its own abyss as can be seen in the 2024 HUD survey, which showed the homeless rate estimated at 771,480 or 23 per 10,000 people. This is an 18 percent increase since 2023. Is there a correlation between the homeless rate and the nineteen money hoarding billionaires in the U.S.? Now is the time for all workers to stand together and recognize the manipulation for what it is and stand together against I.C.E.

The Franchise Death of Union Shops

2025-06-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

The trade unions are being franchised. HVAC and plumbing just to start with. How long before the other trades are franchised? And before long how many union shops will join these franchise companies? When the unions go so do all the benefits. So how can non-franchise companies compete with a nation-wide company on price of equipment, advertising and hiring/firing? With that kind of power, franchisers will take over the market. Then what happens? Workers are back to slave wages, benefits and healthcare? At this time I have not heard of any pushback or anything to counter this franchise system. The franchise system has a good message to workers and small shop owners so I hope our trade unions wake up to what is breathing down their necks and recognize what is about to happen to our union shops and union members. I have said for years that our unions should help our members who want to start their own union shops or businesses. Where the owners are union card members. This latest attack on unions could very well be the end of good wages and benefits for all trade union workers, which could also spell the end to the pensions retired workers live on with the end of union work as no money will be going into the retirement fund.

Safer Communities Starts With Us

2025-06-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

This blog was started in 2014 to support unions and workers. We were one of the first to championed a $15 minimum wage, universal basic income, a four-day work week, health care with no out of pocket costs, free education to at least a bachelor’s degree, climate change, and voter rights plus other changes that need to be made. This blog, with 673 posts, has reached more than 280,713 readers, which is about 15,000 a month from 137 different countries at last check. I have forty years as a union sheet metal worker for Local 104, now retired, and forty-four years as a first responder/volunteer firefighter. At this time, the first responders with volunteer fire departments, across the country and around the world need help. I think our unions could be of help to these selfless volunteers by touching bases with the first responders and asking what they can do to help out, like maybe by offering to sponsor a community free CPR class or basic first aid class for all and re-certify the volunteer firefighters personnel, which, in turn, will make the families, home, streets, community events, and workplace safer. A community is just as good as you make it. So unions that will be the first organization to step up and lead the way in making our communities safer. Safer communities starts with us. Would it be Local 104 Sheet Metal Union or maybe the Teamsters? If any union or agency follows through, please let me know.

Stand Together or We all Fall

2025-06-02T18:35:00.000-07:00

Sheet Metal unions and all union labor, they have come for us. Congress is targeting our jobs and healthcare. Congress is “negotiating” a national tax package that could devastate working families and union retirees within Sheet Metal Local 104. The GOP is backing a reconciliation package that will make massive cuts to the very programs that support our work, our families and our health; like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Unions and their members cannot sit this one out. All must pick a side for this is only the start because the wannabe “king” does not like unions and will not be happy until unions are gone and all leaders are in jail or worse—dead. We workers and retirees still have a chance if we act now. We have to stand together, but time is running out. Retirees would be very helpful if they participated in the protests and contacting our elected officials. The more pressure we put on the Trump and his administration could influence their decisions. Companies meeting with Trump are saying he and his staff do not understand the jobs they represent or how they influence the functionality of the country. They need to understand that cutting our pay and benefits directly affects the stability, quality and functionality of our work, which will, at some point, impact everyone’s lives in many ways, such as clean energy, air quality, pollution, and building upgrades. If we don’t stand up now, all We know that we have union members who vote for GOP candidates who claim they’ll fix whatever single issue the voter opposes. So now we have to stand together and fight for the most important things for our members and their families, like pensions, healthcare, good wages, safe working conditions and the right to have unions because without these benefits we’d all be slaves. Our labor leaders must get over being afraid of losing their jobs and spend time educating our union members on who and what to fight and vote for. Remember, the working class and the employing class have nothing in common. They are not going to invite you or your family to their country clubs to play golf or tennis. I hope we, union workers, don’t give away what those before us fought and died for what some people take for granted today. Those who gave their lives for our working conditions include Joe Hill, Wesley Everest, Frank Little, Arturo Gisvannitti, Joseph Carso, Joe Ettor, and, yet, so many of us today piss away the sacrifices these union members made for us. Now is the time for us all to stand together or we all fall.

Be Prepared For What's Coming

2025-04-12T14:54:00.000-07:00

As of April 1, there are 288 new billionaires added to the list for a total of 3,028 billionaires with a total net worth of $16.1 trillion. This is what is against us. They want slaves and slave wages here like they pay in other countries. Trump’s Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick wants the slave labor corporations use in other countries to be brought back and have Americans do the work. “The army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little, little screws to make iPhones, that kind of thing is going to come to America.” It is save to assume if this happened, it will not be at union wages or a livable wage. Unions memers have to be prepared. Our old ways of doing things will no longer work and the oligarchs know this. All union members must start saving money and not go into debt. It’s time to question the difference between a “need” from a “want” before making purchases of any kind. It’s imperative that we become self-sufficient as possible, even to the point of growing our food and storing dry goods for at least the next three years. The next three years will be the fight of our lives and way of life, especially with regard to our unions. This is not the time for vacations, new cars, boats or anything that can’t be paid for in full at the time of purchase. If you’re already paying on these items, pay them off as soon as possible or sale them and stash the cash. Don’t gamble on your future. People are already filing for bankruptcies and the hard times have only just begun. Be ahead of the game because if labor unions and nonunions go on a nationwide strike you will have a better chance at surviving. This is not a joke for the oligarch want to break unions, take away Social Security, Medicare and voters rights and they’re doing out in the open, but most people don’t believe it could happen here. The sad fact is that it already has begun to happen here. If this doesn’t scare you, ask yourself how much of a gambler are you? Consider your parents or grandparents, who take care of them if they lose all the safety nets they worker for? Take all the work you can get, spend on only necessities and save all you can to provide a cushion for six months, if not a year, of money to live on. Remember, no one is going to stand by you except your union and its members. We have to be prepared to survive for the rest of the year or until we elect a labor friendly government in office. Don’t get sucked into things that don’t really matter. We can always change things if we stick together. Right now, we need to focus on our jobs, food, shelter, healthcare if needed and our unions while also fight to save our voting rights. Remember, nonunion corporations with the backing of the current administration will have no problem putting you in jail or just killing you like the “good ol’ days” when they killed Joe Hill, who was shot by a firing squad, and Wesley Everest and Frank Little, who were both hanged, for being union organizers. There were others were martyred and who sacrifice all for your right to work in safety and for a livable wage.

Senator Bernie Sanders & Team

2025-03-19T15:34:00.000-07:00

The AFL is with Senator Bernie Sanders and it is the people’s only chance to push back against Elon Musk, who wants to dismantle our government. Musk family is said to have left South Africa because they could no longer exploit The native/black Africans so he bought Trump and now he’s laying waste to America in the name of progress. With Senator Sanders’ leadership and backing of all labor unions, we could put together the whole of 99 percent of the people and beat back the 2 percent destroying we what once had and stood for while also saving Social Security, healthcare for all, elder care, child care, while working on the climate change crisis (we are running out of time, as the weather is showing us). The workers need to go big, such as a four-day work week like other countries have; universal basic income (UBI) and Medicare for all for unhoused people, which would help get them off the streets. UBI goes right back into the local economies, which supports jobs for the other working people. Helping people in the richest nation in the world does not diminish the lives of working people, it enhances them. Instead of seeing these people as worthless, try seeing their wasted talents, creativity, compassion and energy. Instead of rejecting these people, harness their talents for the betterment of society. We are all just one medical crisis away from losing everything. If Sanders and labor brought all the unions together that power could even pull off a national strike if need be to get the four-day work week and a living wage. Right now could be our best chance to show billionaires and the GOP, what the real people’s power looks like and what we can do with it. So let’s all support Sanders and his movement with money and people at his rallies. Remember, this administration wants to kill Social Security and Medicare that we’ve all been paying into. It may tale a national strike to get their attention. Just recently Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has teamed up with Sanders’ tour to educate people on how we can deal with the Trump criminals. Just saw that Bernie and AOC are holding Fighting Oligarchy" Where we go from here. On Thursday: it wii be in Las Vegas, NV at the Craig Ranch Amphitheater, 628 West Craig Road, north Las Vegas, NV doors open at 12 noon, program starts at 1 p.m. On Thursday, March 20, Tempe, AZ at the Mullett Arena, 411 S. Packard Dr., Tempe, AZ doors open 5 p.m. and program begins at 6 p.m. On Friday: March 21, Greely, Colorado, Bank of Colorado Arena, 1600 23rd Street, Greeley, Co. Doors open at 12 p.m. and program begins at 1 p.m. On Friday, March 21, Denver, Colorado at the Civic Center Park, 101 14th Ave., Denver, Colorado. Doors open at 4 p.m., program begins at 5 p.m. Saturday: March 22, Tucson, AZ at Catalina High School, 3645 E Pima St, Tucson, AZ, Doors open 10:30 a.m., program begins at 11:30 a.m.