Big Labor is getting it good and hard from Joe Biden -TIPP Insights
Democrats like Joe Biden, who bills himself as Scranton Joe to labor unions and panders for their votes, is supposedly the main man looking out for the interests of unions and the little guy.
Except that he isn't. He's more like their Cornelius Vanderbilt or Jay Gould union-busting big guy, not organized labor's best friend. He's the boss who detests the little guy, and not surprisingly, on his watch, labor is biting back.
According to research from TIPP Insights:
Today, labor strife in America is broad and deep, impacting many sectors. Since May 1, Cornell University's Labor Action Tracker lists 86 labor actions in 149 locations in the United States. Workers at Starbucks, McDonald’s, Amazon, Trader Joe's, Gannett Newspapers, Coca-Cola, and many other organizations have declared work action against their management. In nearly every case, the issues of labor unrest - better pay and working conditions in the face of runaway inflation - are all too familiar.
On July 14, SAG-AFTRA, a union representing approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists, and other media professionals struck work in a direct threat to the studios' plans to release new movies and television shows for the Fall.
In other words, Bidenflation is fueling labor's call for higher wages, and with no significant economic growth to support those wage hikes, labor isn't getting them, prompting them to strike, which they are doing in droves.
They've never struck harder than under these Biden years. Under President Trump, wages rose, as did labor market participation and actual jobs, leading to higher standards of living and a tranquil labor market. That was prior to the COVID pandemic lockdowns, when all numbers tumbled.
Joe Biden, however, has not made things better. He's actually made things worse and is at the root of the problem here.
Having spent the economy into the ground with his monster government spending packages, most of which have resulted in the hiring of new union workers for his expansion of government, the workers now are angry at what the results of those spending packages have wrought: inflation, which has trashed the value of their paychecks. Inflation is always brought on by too much government spending because it is, as Milton Friedman has said, "always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon." As union members, these stiffed workers are in a position to strike, and they are striking as never before.
What a legacy that amounts to for Joe Biden and his Democrats. After preening about how he loves the working man, he turns out to be the most anti-working-man president of them all, the creepy, sleazy boss who cuts their paychecks without telling them, and further dilutes their earnings by importing in millions of illegal aliens, who will gladly work for less than what the union members make, undercutting their salaries even more.
TIPP Insights thinks this that as elections approach, this time the unions may wise up, or if not wise up, not actively support Democrats if they can help it, which they think will cost Democrats big in 2024:
Labor unions are a reliable pillar of Democrats in elections. Although only 6% of America's private labor force is unionized, most government workers are organized. When members pay dues, a significant portion is diverted by union management to make campaign contributions to Democrats. Without the support of unions through PAC contributions, most Democratic candidates would not be competitive in swing districts.
Union leaders also engage in grassroots organizing, unleashing their members to go door-to-door to campaign on behalf of Democratic candidates. They help in ballot collection where ballot boxes are allowed and oversee polling stations.
If even a fraction of those unions and union members refuse to show up at the polls and precincts for Democrats, then Democrats are going to be toast.
Already there are signs it is happening:
Since then, labor unions have been openly confrontational with the White House. The United Autoworkers Union, representing automakers, has thus far refused to endorse President Biden in 2024 - and if the UAW leadership is tepid in its support, it could have consequences in automotive swing states such as Michigan and Wisconsin. A Teamsters official warned the White House not to intervene in the UPS negotiations. Georgia is a swing state of prime importance in 2024.
And that's not even counting the lost standard of living that union members are seeing in their own falling wages, courtesy of Biden.
TIPP thinks the consequences for Democrats could be severe:
2024 could be the first election in a long time where labor's muted involvement could be disastrous for the Democrats, from President Biden all the way down-ticket.
If so, it's about time that happened -- and any GOP candidate ought to be ready to try to win them over. Based on what we have seen in the past few years, only President Trump has that fine touch that could make it happen.
What a sorry legacy that is for wretched Joe Biden.
Image: New York Public Library, via Picryl // CC0 1.0 Dedication