tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077386656187888581.post2268586011154460013..comments2024-03-19T22:06:41.165-04:00Comments on fromtheeditr: An Opportunity for Labor: Smarter and Wiser?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04217963475185024609noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077386656187888581.post-43650360718162738942011-03-12T22:04:11.563-05:002011-03-12T22:04:11.563-05:00Mary:
Hear! Hear! Nicely said, ma'am.Mary:<br />Hear! Hear! Nicely said, ma'am.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04217963475185024609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077386656187888581.post-77798755342524875942011-03-12T09:58:37.369-05:002011-03-12T09:58:37.369-05:00I also lament the union-busting in Wisconsin, and ...I also lament the union-busting in Wisconsin, and particularly the mean-spirited targeting of public employees, and especially teachers in this battle. <br />"Playing this one smart" means that unions must find ways to be more transparent, and to question their own inflexibility and also the blue-collarization of what ought to be professional fields with clearly demarcated high standards for their own work (esp. teaching). In the middle ages, craft guilds--the predecessors to unions--set professional, high standards for their members. These standards were part of their armor. They justified guild protections.<br /> Resistance to common-sense flexibility and merit-oriented practices are part of what has made American labor unions easy to demonize. I agree that to sustain a healthy middle class, we need unions. But unions need to self-scrutinize and reform themselves so to serve their memberships--and our whole society--better. Let's hope they can and will. Their members deserve no less.How to contact Mary: marybullington53@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08174581825078147922noreply@blogger.com