Robert Reich,  Carmel P. Friesen Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California  -  AlterNet Stephan: It has always surprised me that so many working-class men and women vote Republican. Anyone who takes some time to do a few Google's quickly discovers that the two things that created the middle class in the United States were the unionization of workers, and the federal programs after WWII that allowed veterans (mostly working-class men) to get financing to go to college, and to buy homes. And then particularly starting during the Reagan administration the Republican Party gutted those programs and restructured the tax system to grossly favor the rich who rented them as needed. The result is the grotesque wealth inequality that now plagues American society. Like everything else it is all going to get down to voting. Members of the United Auto Workers in 2014. Credit: Creative Commons On Friday, Volkswagen employees in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted overwhelmingly to join the United Auto Workers union. This is a truly big deal. The mainstream media — most of whom no longer have labor reporters — have barely mentioned it, but I believe it marks a major turning point for organized labor. The victory in Chattanooga is the first successful organizing drive of an automaker outside of Detroit’s Big Three and the first major union victory in the South. Volkswagen had told workers — in a very conservative Republican area — that the “UAW = Biden” and that the union would “turn Chattanooga into Detroit.” Six southern state governors attacked the union as a threat to “liberty and freedoms” and in a joint statement condemned the UAW’s push to organize in their states. But the union and the workers triumphed anyway. We are witnessing a historic rebirth of the labor union movement in America. Labor unions are not just an [...]

View Entire Post