After learning about labor unions and the struggle for workers to receive fair treatment and rights during the early 1900’s, I noticed a very strong parallel in an article I recently read regarding the recent economic bailout. The article, from the Huffington Post, entitled Bailout Recipients Hosted Call To Defeat Key Labor Bill. The article states that three days after receiving 25 billion dollars in bailout money, Bank of America had a conference call with conservative activists and other business leaders to plan an opposition against the Labor Communities crucial legislative priority, the Employers Free Choice Act (EFCA). The act, if passed, basically would allow individuals a choice whether to be a part of a union or not and give them the ability to bargain for better wages, working conditions, benefits, etc. Here is a short two-page summary of the bill.
The strong opposition to this bill really reminded me of the strong opposition labor unions and workers faced during the protests in the early 1900’s. Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot, and Rick Berman, strong opponent of the EFCA, helped lead this opposition. Audio from the actual conference call reveals a conversation so absurd and extreme it’s almost hard to believe. Here are some excerpts from the call;
Marcus - "This is the demise of a civilization. This is how a civilization disappears. I am sitting here as an elder statesman and I'm watching this happen and I don't believe it."
“Donations of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars were needed, it was argued, to prevent America from turning "into France."
"If a retailer has not gotten involved in this, if he has not spent money on this election, if he has not sent money to [former Sen.] Norm Coleman and all these other guys, they should be shot. They should be thrown out their goddamn jobs.”
“As a shareholder, if I knew the CEO of the company wasn't doing anything on [EFCA]... I would sue the son of a bitch... I'm so angry at some of these CEOs, I can't even believe the stupidity that is involved here."
The great irony with all of this is that these high-up CEO’s and political figures feel that a bill to benefit the working man would be a great blow to the economy and to their corporations; where in reality, it is largely the greed and excess of these upper-tier of executives that is largely responsible for bringing the economy to this current situation in the first place. I think the insanity of this opposition is made quite clear in this ACTUAL QUOTE from the conversation.
“This bill may be one of the worst things I have ever seen in my life," [Marcus] said, explaining that he could have been on "a 350-foot boat out in the Mediterranean," but felt it was more important to engage on this fight. "It is incredible to me that anybody could have the chutzpah to try and pass this bill in this election year, especially when we have an economy that is a disaster, a total absolute disaster."
So when these top executives and conservatives view the EFCA as a threat to American capitalism, this is perhaps because the great gap of wealth they possess above the middle-class is being threatened. And yet, it is taxpayer money that is bailing their corporations out. To allow that sort of government intervention and not allow government intervention to benefit the average American can only be viewed as corrupt and insane.
