The Fall and Rise of Labour in the 21st Century: if it has got to start somewhere, it might as well start everywhere. And every hand helps.
And every step counts.
The slightest move.
It’s not too late for the American Labor Movement…
In the early years of the 20th century, blood was shed, heads were broken, bridges blown sideways and when the dust settled we had the 40 hour work week, decent pay and pensions. More…The American worker could as long as the robber barons were kept at bay, able to make a decent living. A couple of handy World Wars helped as well.
And then along came Ronnie…
But first there was Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders; the mythic cowboy shot straight through the whites of American eyes, into the Dark Heart of the Yankee imagination and blasted its way out the other side as full-blown History.
The Cowboy as Savior of a nation wandering lost in the Wilderness works because cowboys are not about justice, human rights and the sovereignty of other countries: No.
Cowboys are about cows.
And the art of herding cows.
And eating cows.
And worshiping sacred cows.
And…Well, sumabitch…Looks like The Cowboy Way is just politics by another name.
Which brings us to Eugene, Oregon. Mainstream media mourns the sad lot of the Eugene Water & Electric Board. First they started losing money due to bad management decisions, for which they were well-paid. And then their workers decided to get organized. Because clearly, the guys at the top were no geniuses…
And the EWEB’s woes started rolling.
Labour unrest was unfamiliar to the men in suits who never went out at three in the morning to get the lights back on for thousands of rate-payers.
No. A hundred years and no union.
Of course, there had been talk.
Not the Talk is turning into Action.
The unionization drive comes after EWEB laid off 38 employees last year in order to trim costs in response to declining revenues — and it may cut a dozen more jobs this spring.
Some of EWEB’s 86,000 ratepayers are feeling pinched, too, because part of EWEB’s fix to its financial pickle was to raise rates.
Ratepayers have a stake in the outcome of the unionization efforts. But what that is depends on who you talk to. Mainstream media figures it might increase costs or reduce the quality of the electric and water service.
But people know that in the end, unions are good for everyone in the community.
Management usually isn’t part of the community it profits from,
So it goes.
And the Union rolls on.
As the Cowboys ride into the sunset.
- KBOO