Unions. Thank God for Them.

Good afternoon faithful blog readers. Yes both of you! Baseball season opening day is tomorrow. How 'bout them Redbirds huh?

Hey anyone read anything lately about states eliminating people's rights to unionize? Have you heard anything about the work of the state republicans in Wisconsin? In Indiana? In my adopted home state of Ohio? These are definitely some emotionally charged issues. I'm not unbiased. I'm your average union worker. Hard working. Loyal. Dependable. I believe these actions by Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio are unconstitutional. Let's explore Unions a little bit shall we? Maybe along the way we can debunk a few myths and gain a little gratitude for the working man.

FACTS-

- In order for a job to be unionized there has to have at one point been a vote taken amongst employees and a majority must have voted for their right to unionize.

- If you work a 40 hour week, have health insurance and retirement benefits, work in safe conditions, enjoy a coffee break and lunch break on your job, then you should have some gratitude for labor unions. Without unions you wouldn't have these "perks."

Republican leaders and talking heads continuously point out the college professor saying it's difficult to live on $100,000. It's easy to see why those of us struggling to get by on $60,000 annual family incomes scoff at this. But I ask is this really all we are paying our high seniority professors? We pay the Presidents of state universities millions of dollars and pay for their housing and vehicles. Many sports coaches at public universities are millionaires many times over. Many of the highest educated people go on to make fortunes in the private sector. A few of these stay behind to teach future generations for a small percentage of the salaries of private workers.

What about the janitors at the public universities? These men and women making $35,000 a year? Or the secretaries making $30,000? Or the campus police making $28,000? Taking away these working folk's right to collectively bargain is borderline criminal.

I've overheard a lot of comments from folks grateful that their company is non-union. Grateful they work for good people who value employees. That's all well and good but let's not forget that unions set the tone for industry. Many non union jobs pay significantly less than union wages. So obviously unions are good for the middle class and bad for wealthy CEO's and company owners.

We often hear all the myths about all unions do is keep bad workers from getting fired. Sure that sometimes happens. How about my experiences? When I screwed my knee up pretty bad playing recreational softball it was a union that helped me keep my employment while I healed. It was a union that helped pay my bills and feed my kids. I remember when I finally reached out for help and decided to address my drinking problem. It was a union that helped me keep my job then too while I spent time in a treatment center trying to heal. It was also a union that insured I received medical pay while in treatment. I remember when as a teamster on a particular job some managers had started doing some of the union employee's work. It resulted in the loss of several hundred dollars of weekly income for me personally and many others as well. After winning a grievance that income was restored. What would I have done without my union brothers then?

Let's not forget folks that unions are a constitutional right. They are a true testament to a democratic nation. Weakening these unions give more control and power to our government and to big business. When business gains power it's bad for all of us.

Our State Senators and Representatives received raises this year. The top gubernatorial aides received significant raises. These folks don't pay for retirement or health insurance either and they make much more money than the average state employee. Taking away a man's collective bargaining rights is a shame. We can't let this happen. How soon until we can recall Kasich?

-"It is one of the characteristics of a free and democratic nation that it have free and independent labor unions." -Franklin Delano Roosevelt