How in the heck can there be historically low support for unions?

[Swede]

They are needed now,more than ever. It's like that book,"What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America" all over again.

[mucifer]

1. They seem to be winning the propaganda wars. It's really sad.

[coti]

16. They've just been demonized. It's just that simple.

It's not that unions haven't, in fairly rare cases, overreached, but the broader view of what they have brought to our country has been totally lost in the negativity that has been quite deliberately and deceptively aimed at them.

It's been years and years of this stuff. Decades of anti-union argument, with very little defense.

The unions rested on their merits- which have been incredible. But rested nonetheless.

[RegieRocker]

2. Another poster summed this up. Misery loves company.

[jezebel]

3. Faux News and all rightwing assholes have waged a war on them, and unfortunately the sheep have

followed.
Unions are EVVIIIILLLL, don't ya know?

I've been wondering over the last couple of days how many people in Wisconsin voted for the Republicans last year and now see they were voting against their own interests. I hope it's been a huge wake up call.

[eleny]

4. Rewriting history is big these days

[rucky]

5. They're greedy and out of control

didn't you get the memo?

The lies & smears I expect, but Dem leaders have done a real half-ass job of defending unions.

[Shandris]

6. Pure propaganda along with the fact that the things that people take...

...for granted about their workplace are LITERALLY taken for granted. Around here, you mention Unions and the ONLY thing you'll hear (from a non-Union family of course) is 'corrupt Unions' and 'wish I could not show up for work and keep my job'. Seriously...that's the whole crux of their argument. EVERYONE (apparently) knows SOMEONE who 'didnt show up and kept their job because of the corrupt Union'. :sarcasm:

Ask them what Unions have done and they say 'well maybe 80 years ago they were needed and all, but not anymore. Now they just steal money.'

I wish I was kidding.

[napi21]

7. Low support for unions is because most of the jobs held by union workers have been shipped

overseas. Those who had those jobs are now either unemployed or working in some job they'd lose if they tried to support a union again. They're scared to do that because it may not be a great job that they have, but it's still a paycheck and that's much better than none!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. +1

[Cleita]

9. Watching Fake News again?

It's a lie.

[Swede]

10. This is a pew poll posted on TPM today.

While protests continue to rage in Wisconsin over a proposal to drastically roll back public employee union's rights, a new Pew poll finds that less than half of all Americans have a favorable opinion of unions. In fact, their support is hovering near an all time low.

Only 45% of respondents in the poll said they viewed unions favorably, while nearly as many, 41%, said they had an unfavorable opinion of unions. And while the poll was conducted before demonstrators took to the streets in Wisconsin, it underscores the tenuous position in which unions currently find themselves.





http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/02/support-for-labor-unions-remains-at-near-historic-low.php

[napi21]

19. I admit, there was a time I was against unions. My hubby was a unuin member

& I was working my ass off NIGHT turn (9PM to 5AM) for the Fed. Reserve. He would tell me about the agreement that nobody at his job was allowed to make more of a particular item that a specific number so they would make their quota before lunch & then go sleep in a corner somewhere until about one hour before quiting time. He also told me about the guy there who's job was sweeping the floor and he was making $20/hr...I was making $3.46/hr.I was pissed and they made me even angrier when one day it snowed. I went to work, & my hubby went to work a few hours after I got home. He returned home a few hours later because someone who worked in his shop was late getting to work due to the snow & he was told his pay would be docked. He objected & the whole shop walked out in support of him.

When I recount those days I still get a bit angry, but I also recognize that unions have been a great boon to this Country &I want them to strengthen now. I want them to be more rational, get their rights, and fair employment, but drop the stupid ideas. It will be great for everybody.

[Cleita]

25. You said historically, not a recent poll.

I'm old enough to have lived through a lot of history and unions were always viewed favorably until Reagan came along and started the union busting movement, starting with the air traffic controllers. I feel sorry for those who were polled who probably don't understand that the reason they work for lower wages today and fewer benefits is because the unions are being attacked and decimated.

[notesdev]

11. Pretty simple

Most union members in the USA today are government workers, and people have learned to despise government due to the repeated and sustained abuses of alleged public servants behaving as if they believe they are public masters.

[Davis_X_Machina]

12. There's another angle...

...when you need others, in solidarity, to band together to exert countervailing force, against management and the forces of capital, then you're not omnipotent. You're not master of your fate. You're not in control of your destiny. Not by yourself, anyway.

Some folks, especially men, don't want to face that fact.
It puts the lie to a great American myth

[Wilms]

14. Do you mean to say this guy was just an actor?

With Union benefits, no less?

[leftstreet]

24. +1

Nicely stated

[moondust]

13. Unions have been demonized for a long time.

People who don't know or care about history are susceptible to the anti-union propaganda of the predatory capitalists who want their f'ing serfs back!

[Raine]

15. I think it goes back a long way

to when the unions supported the Viet Nam war. I know I remember the "hardhats" taking on the peace protesters and beating the hell out of them whenever they could. I'm pro-union of course but I think that what happened then left a lasting impression on some of my generation.

[Starry Messenger]

17. Union membership itself is very low, I think I read.

All the jobs lost also mean loss of union ranks. Union culture is endangered. I was watching the movie "Wall Street" finally last year and was surprised to see what a big role union characters played in the story. I would be totally shocked to see any film made now that represented organized labor or had a union character in it.

[alc]

18. they need to work on marketing

When do you see news stories about them?
* When teacher/police/etc have been on paid leave or in a closet playing cards for 7 years "because of the union"

* When they complain that volunteers are cleaning up a city park (doing union work)

* When they shut down a teenager's business (I forget the details)

All these and 5 or six others were in the news over the last year. All media, not just Fox, puts the worst spin on it. And union leaders say they're doing the right thing. I'll accept that they are doing the right thing, but get a public relations person to help explain it because they don't look good they way they explain it.

Then get the PR firm to help get the good news stories publicized. I've seen about as many of them over the last year, but it's a little blurb that lasts one day instead of 2-3 days or a week for the bad stories and "the other side" gets their quotes in which are done by a PR firm.

[customerserviceguy]

20. There is an extremely low proportion of union households right now

Fifty or sixty years ago, it was much higher. When you have a high proportion of Americans deriving their living from a union household, you have high levels of support. When it's a low proportion, the Rethugs can exploit the "us vs. them" mentality that they're so well practiced at.

[WildEyedLiberal]

21. Because there's been a nonstop 30 year long smear campaign

One of the RW's BIGGEST talking points from Reagan til now has been how the unions have destroyed our economy, crippled our ability to compete, hamstrung those poor business owners who just can't get a fair shake in the global market, etc. etc. There's a reason the unions were public enemy number one, and it's because they are the only thing standing between the middle class and serfdom.

[spanone]

22. says who?

[upi402]

23. The corporate media gets my vote

for betrayer of democracy and underminer of America.