By David P. Gaibis

– The Republicans’ war on labor has taken American workers from a moderate lifestyle story to a rags story. In the beginning, before the labor movement, employers worked their “captive labor” 12 hours a day, seven days a week for 25 cents an hour with no safety rules or regulations.

These employers are directly responsible for the creation and need for labor unions, the Department of Labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, just to name a few.

In the 1980s, then President Ronald Reagan abolished the cost-of-living adjustment, citing it as inflationary, thus freezing wages as the cost of living skyrocketed. This move alone was instrumental in creating what is now known as “the working poor.”

This brings us to 2014. We have Republican governors quoted as saying they want no labor unions in their states. Labor unions are the only real path for the middle class to secure a profitable wage. Poverty is not self- inflicted; just go to your local grocery store or gas station. What do you think a worker should be paid, not only to survive, but to profit?

It’s a fact that corporate America and the wealthy white Republican male has tried to buy and run our country with their money and are responsible for all the big government in Washington, D.C. These people would like nothing better than to go “back to the beginning” when everything was stacked in their favor and the American workers were left with nothing. With the recent Republican majority Supreme Court decisions, they are well on their way to just that.

American workers need to wake up. Save collective bargaining so you can retire with dignity. Our constitution says “for the people, by the people.” It does not say “for the rich, by the rich.”

David P. Gaibis, New Castle, Pa.

Correction

Dr. Mark C. Vopat, a professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Youngstown State University, notes that his letter published in Tuesday’s Vindicator contained two errors:

First, he listed the cost of cellphones for the YSU’s Athletic Department as $175,000. The correct cost is $17,500.

Second, 44 percent — not 48 percent — of overhead lighting in Bliss Recital Hall must be replaced.

Source: http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/aug/14/republicans-war-on-labor-is-gaining-stea/?newswatch