Saturday, February 26, 2011

Reagan was a union man

While conservatives only care to remember Ronnie Reagan's union busting of the air traffic controllers, in reality, before becoming President, Reagan was a long time union member:

Yet conservatives may be shocked to learn that their idol Reagan was once a union boss himself. Reagan was the only president in American history to have belonged to a union, the AFL-CIO affiliated Screen Actors Guild. And he even served six terms as president of the organized labor group. Additionally, Reagan was a staunch advocate for the collective bargaining rights of one of the world’s most famous and most influential trade unions, Poland’s Solidarity movement.[...]

Solidarity’s economic platform in 1981 called for worker-owned businesses, social control of the food supply so as to ensure that everyone was fed, and for workers to decide what days of the week businesses would be able to declare holidays, among other things.


And if ever there was a mantra for the working poor and middle class Americans, Solidarity's opening statement would be it:
Our union sprang from the people's needs: from their suffering and disappointment, their hopes and desires. It is the product of a revolt by Polish society after three decades of political discrimination, economic exploitation, and the violation of human and civil rights. It is a protest against the existing form of power.
Instead we have an entire class of misinformed voters fighting to protect their corporate overlords, blissfully unaware that when the bigwigs are done with us liberals, they'll be squashing them next.

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2 Comments:

Blogger Diane said...

A great post which goes to show just how much farther right the GOP has moved since Reagan.

I doubt he and Barry Goldwater would recognize their party.

1:25:00 PM  
Blogger Libby Spencer said...

Truly, Goldwater looks moderate compared to the current day GOPers.

4:08:00 PM  

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