I've been a member of DKos since 2004, and although this is only my second diary, I do a lot of lurking in these parts. Like many Americans I’ve been watching the happenings in Wisconsin with interest and I finally got angry enough to do something I should have done years ago; I joined a union. I am now a card-carrying member of the International Union of Police Associations (IUPA), which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO. I decided it was time to make a statement and take a stand.
For many people, joining a union is not that big of a deal, but in my case it is to some degree. I was born and raised in western North Carolina and my family has always been somewhat divided on the matter of unions. My mom’s family was, and continues to be ardent union supporters. Mom’s family was among of the millions of Southerners who went North after World War II to work in the steel mills and auto plants. My grandfather, for whom I was named, worked in an auto plant in Bay City, Michigan and was a member of the machinists union. He died long before I came along, but my mom tells me he was an ardent union man. After he died, my maternal grandmother returned to North Carolina and raised three daughters as a single mother working her butt off in a department store in our hometown. From her experience living in Michigan, she too was a strong union supporter, but to breathe union in 1950s North Carolina was a ticket to the unemployment line. My mom still works in a mill at age 68 and makes no bones about her support for unions, management (and anyone else who complains) be damned. Dad’s people were North Carolina farmers, but in spite of being staunch Democrats who would rather die than vote Republican, my paternal grandparents were not receptive toward unions. That did not seem to rub off on my dad too much, as he was a member of the electricians union for many years. Among my prized possessions is his union card.
When I first graduated from high school, I went to work in a mill until I figured out it wasn’t for me and I joined the Air Force at age 19. I ended up spending 21 years in the service. When I was younger, I was never considered joining a union, which in North Carolina was usually not an available option. Mill owners tended to get rid of pro-union people if they were too vocal about the matter. Of course after joining the Air Force, any notion of joining a union never crossed my mind, since the military is forbidden by law to organize. After I retired from the military, I went to work for the federal government as a police officer, a position I still hold today. I started out as rank and file, but never bothered to join the federal employees union. Until recently, I never saw the need. Now I am in management, and given recent developments, my eyes have been opened. However, being in management, I am no longer eligible to join the federal employee union, so I did the next best thing by joining the IUPA.
I have to admit it was a long evolutionary process for me to get to this point. But now I am firmly committed to this course of action. As I think back, I wish I had taken a stand much sooner. Maybe if we had strong unions, my mom, and millions of others like her, would not have to be working in jobs at age 68; working for less money than I make on my military retirement. I was an enlisted guy and my retirement is nothing to brag about. Maybe if we had strong unions, my dad could have gotten better healthcare and not died a worn out man three days after turning 62. Maybe if we had strong unions we could stop so many of our jobs from being shipped overseas. Maybe if we had strong unions, we could do more to hold management accountable for their actions. I don’t know, but I do know this, the working people of America are getting screwed. The Republicans want to throw around the terms “socialism” and “welfare” like they are some sort of communicable diseases, but they are the ones practicing socialism and welfare, only in reverse. They are redistributing all the wealth upward and handing out corporate welfare, and we are being robbed stone blind. I am damn tired of the working people in this country being forced to make all the sacrifices by being forced to work longer for less money, while the wealthy obtain riches well beyond the wildest dreams of avarice. I damn tired of having to bail out the fat cats who run our financial industry and our corporations like casinos. It’s time to make the wealthy get off their fat wallets and asses and start paying in their fair share. It’s time to start holding our corporate and political leaders accountable for their actions. It’s time for working people in America to take a stand and say, enough!
In my military career, I had to opportunity to see a lot of the world that a lot of people never get to see. As a result, I’ve learned a few things along the way. I’ve spent time in countries in the Caribbean, Latin America and the Middle East where there is no middle class, just a handful of very rich, and the teeming poor. Some of these countries are fabulously wealthy. I’ve also seen the other side of the coin, in Europe, where there is a vibrant middle class, and people make good wages, have great benefits and enjoy outstanding healthcare. Europe is not perfect, but I’d rather be in their shoes than ours. As for the United States, the Republicans have chosen for us the former model, a gutted and powerless middle class who must submit to their will and whims. We must take a stand to stop them. All of us can do our small part in this endeavor. Join a union, get out and vote, take people to vote, write your congress critter, do whatever you can afford, but take a stand. Last year, Jim DeMint, the senator from South Carolina, said he wanted to make healthcare “Obama’s Waterloo”, we need to turn the tables and make Wisconsin the Republican Waterloo.
Thanks for reading.