I’m disappointed and disgusted with elected liberal officials playing the race card in their efforts to justify their assault on the basic logic and intellectual capacity of Americans across this wonderful land of opportunity. One of the lies that liberals officials use to manipulate Black Americans is that forced unionism is constitutional. In the Black community, that is further highlighted by playing the race card and claiming how “good” the unions have been to Black people.
Last month, Wisconsin State Senator Spencer Coggs, in a shameful display of pretzel logic mired in the depths of long-dead racial realities, proclaimed: “As a people, we have done well with union jobs. I know the impact that union jobs have on our wages, our health care and our very ability to keep a job. If it weren’t for unions, we often wouldn’t have a hedge to protect us against being the last hired and first fired.”
Liberals would have Black Americans to believe that unions are the only hope for overcoming the victimhood assigned to Black Americans and perpetuated by liberal politicians who are intent on profiting from this farce. I, for one, have grown tired of this intentional refusal to acknowledge the importance and significance of what Black America brings to the table on a daily basis. We, as do all Americans, determine our own place in our history, and certainly don’t need special treatment from unions or government in order to shine brilliantly in our individual pursuit of happiness.
Unions, furthermore, in their blatant desire to perpetuate an ugly and untrue picture to curry favor among Black Americans, continue to discriminate against Black workers. If most Black Americans knew the facts, I am convinced that there would be a resounding renouncing and en masse opting out of unions.
The Center for Union Facts (https://www.unionfacts.com/crime-corruption/discrimination-by-unions) published a report obtained through the Freedom of Information Act which demonstrates, in large part, union discrimination against Blacks. The report stated that Between 2000 and 2011, labor unions faced 13,815 complaints of discrimination filed with the government’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. These included 4,248 complaints of race discrimination. That amounts to at least one formal complaint per day for racial discrimination.
Unions also discriminate against Blacks in labor, particularly in construction, through the Davis Bacon Act of 1931. The Davis Bacon Act was created for the purpose of keeping non-union Blacks workers from competing with white-only unions for construction jobs that were partially or fully funded by the Federal government. It was a “Jim Crow” Law. Most Blacks today do not know that this Jim Crow law is not only still on the books, but continues to have the same intended consequence.
Another way that unions discriminate against Blacks is through what is known as Project Labor Agreements (PLAs). The National Black Chamber of Commerce recently released the following statement, regarding PLAs: “African-American workers are significantly underrepresented in all crafts of construction union shops … this problem has been persistent during past decades and there appears to be no type of improvement coming … PLAs are anti-free-market, non-competitive, and, most of all, discriminatory.” (See https://www.plawatch.com/discrimiate)
Studies upon studies have confirmed that PLAs serve as major barriers for Black owned businesses seeking to bid on public and private projects. Nevertheless, unions continue to lobby for government to sustain public policies that have negative outcomes for Black business owners and workers, while promoting racial equality and social justice through false propaganda.
Regarding forced unionism, Black Americans should be outraged. No American should be forced to join a union, against their will, and pay dues in order to work. The Black unemployment rate is almost 17 percent. That Black Americans would face being terminated from their jobs, harassment or discrimination, if they don’t want to join a union, is a form of economic slavery. Slavery, by any name, is still slavery.
Are unions really good to Blacks? Not unless freedom deprived, in any way, can ever be defined as “good.”
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