Sunday, March 13, 2011

Monday's battle in the WOW: MO

Monday's battleground in the war on workers will be in Jefferson City, Mo., where the state Senate will take up an anti-worker bill.

The bill has been promoted by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation,  a union-busting group that the Koch brothers have supported for years. The Missouri Senate bill is one of more than a dozen right-to-work (for LESS) bills being rushed through Republican-dominated legislatures around the country. They are part of a coordinated effort by the Kochs and other corporate CEOs to lower workers' wages.

The bill's supporters claim it would create jobs. That probably sounds familiar. Koch whore Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said his union-busting bill was about balancing the budget. But to argue that jobs are created by these so-called "right-to-work" bills is like saying jobs are created by trade deals that make it easier to move factories overseas.

Missouri Rep. Tim Meadows, who is also vice president of Teamster Local 600, told us in an interview:
This is a blatant attack on the working middle class in this country, and it is just the start of our battle. We need every member to become educated in the issues and participate so we can turn this thing around.
Meadows urges all Teamsters to participate in their local unions and to get involved quickly. Their help is needed to educate one another about the broad attacks on the middle class. He said
We all have to take a stand and fight. I hope we’re able to overturn what happened in Wisconsin.
When it comes to voting, I realize there are gun issues, abortion issues, all kinds of social issues people stand behind, but this is your livelihood. It’s everything. People need to vote in their economic interests.