Thread: Cutler on AFL-CIO Decries Imported Strike Breakers

Cutler on AFL-CIO Decries Imported Strike Breakers - (They can’t have it both ways!)
By Mike Cutler

As many of you may know, my dad was a proud member of the Plumbers Union in New York. One of the important issues related to the massive influx of illegal aliens is the way that this tidal wave of vulnerable and consequently cheap and exploitable labor hammers the average American worker who simply wants to feed and support his family. The use of specialized visas such as the H-1b visa, similarly undercuts the American workforce.

These foreign workers drive down wages of the American worker and has lead, I believe, to many of the economic challenges now confronting our country.

Today I received a newsletter from the AFL-CIO concerning a strike by some of their members at a company known as Redco. I have copied excerpts from that newsletter below:

“Last November, members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 50 walked out at Redco’s plant in Little Falls, N.Y. They did so because they were seeking a fair contract after their previous pact expired in July. Like many other employers seeking to raise profits on the backs of workers, Redco’s parent company, Teekanne, is demanding givebacks from their employees.

Teekane Group, the German multinational company that bought Redco in 1995, is trying to impose inferior terms and conditions of employment on new hires that undermine those the American workforce gained over many years of hard work.

So, reluctantly, union members voted to strike in defense of their living standards.

The company has responded to the strike by bringing in scabs, including technicians from Germany, and using management to keep the machines running. The company still refuses to bargain constructively, rejecting without consideration union offers of compromise.â€

[quote]I suspect that those German technicians were legally hired by the German-based company that bought this American company. This is one of the many prices we are paying for globalization. What is puzzling to me is why the AFL-CIO decries this importation of “scab laborâ€

I have also written then in the last few days to tell them I think they are hypocrites as well. I'll remember that next time I am presented the chance to join a union and will remind friends and family to do the same.