
Labor to Bush: Good Riddance!
From: Dick Meister
Length: 00:03:50
More from Dick Meister
SAFETY FIRST!
(00:05:09)
From: Dick Meister
The number of serious on-the-job accidents this year have made very clear the need for expanded and tightened government safety regulations.
An Outrageous Frameup
(00:06:05)
From: Dick Meister
Union organizers Tom Mooney and Warren K. Billings were the victims of one of the most outrageous frameups in U.S. history.
CONGRESS IS ACTING STUPIDLY
(00:04:10)
From: Dick Meister
Congress is only adding to our economic problems by refusing extra aid to the unemployed and to states faced with having to lay off many vital public service workers.
Closing The Wealth Gap
(00:03:12)
From: Dick Meister
The wealth gap between African-American and white workers has been growing
steadily even as the wage gap has been shrinking.
God's Not On The Side Of Union Busters
(00:03:28)
From: Dick Meister
A Catholic scholars group says opposing unions is a mortal sin.
Let's Stop Child Labor On The Farm
(00:03:24)
From: Dick Meister
Yes, this is the 21st Century, but America's agricultural industry still relies heavily on child labor.
The Governor & The Condemned Man
(00:05:01)
From: Dick Meister
It's the 50th anniversary of one of the most dramatic and influential death penalty cases ever, the Caryl Chessman case that drew worldwide attention and protests.
LABOR'S SMALL BUSINESS FRIENDS
(00:03:51)
From: Dick Meister
A new survey disputes the claim that small business owners are as anti-union as their big business counterparts.
WALTER REUTHER: AN EXTRAORDINARILY GOOD MAN
(00:04:33)
From: Dick Meister
It was 40 years ago this month that Walter Reuther died, yet the auto workers' leader remains an important inspirational figure.
An Environmental And Worker Disaster
(00:03:48)
From: Dick Meister
We're paying too little attention to he workers who were seriously injured or killed in the explosion that spilled tons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
Piece Description
With the departure of George Bush from the White House, as this commentary notes, working people and their unions have finally ended one of their toughest fights ever -- an eight-year struggle with the most virulently anti-labor president in American history. Bush and his appointees stripped union rights from millions of workers, diminished the rights of others, openly tried to seriously weaken unions, cut back enforcement of labor laws and regulations, reduced the pay, benefits and union and civil rights of millions of federal employees and others, Worst of all, the Bush administration seriously weakened the job safety laws, despite the alarming increase in work related deaths and serious injuries.
Broadcast History
None
Transcript
Finally, it’s over … the eight year struggle of working people and their unions against George Bush, the most anti-labor president in American history. The record of Bush’s anti-labor actions is downright staggering.
Consider, for example, Bush’s appointment of a notoriously anti-labor secretary of labor, Elaine Chao ,,, and his appointment of an anti- labor majority to run the National Labor Relations Board.
The Bush appointees have played a key role in taking away union rights from more than one million federal employees .. in cutting pay raises that had been granted them and most others on the government payroll … and in shifting thousands of unionized federal jobs to private non-union contractors.
The Bushies have increased the staff and budgets for investigating and auditing unions, while cutting the staff and budgets for investigating employer violations of labor standards … in...
Read the full transcript
Intro and Outro
INTRO:Commentator Dick Meister says there's some very good news for working Americans.
OUTRO:Dick Meister is a long-time labor journalist.