Job Creators and the Need to Support the Union Movement....
By Brother Tracy Gibson...
This article MUST be sent to ALL Top Executives at McDonalds, at my expense. When We--as Job Creators and Business owners--support Progressive Labor we pour money back into the hands and pockets that serve as the very life-blood of the economic base from which we ourselves generate our own economic viability and sustainability. To cheat Labor is to cheat us. To give Labor a raw deal is to give ourselves a raw deal. Fair and stable wages have a regenerative impact that tends to share more money with the communities we serve as business men and business women. It tends to strengthen school districts, tax basis, churches, struggling families and communities; and allow people to fill their grocery baskets and shopping carts so they can shop in a hardier fashion at K-Mart, Target, and Trader Joe's. We will also find our customer base expanding and more happy and friendlier as well as the smaller shops and stores we might own experience an upturn... When we show the spirit of generosity in all commercial contract negotiations--be they either private or public--we are allowing money to flow freely and properly to the communities that sell us their Labor and back to us as owners of the Means of Production, small developers, property owners and small store owners--and back yet again to the people. This is the natural and decent Way things should progress.
Yesterday [March 14th, 2013] I went to a lively demonstration and rally in City Hall for Labor rights and a City Contract with District Council 33--One of the city Labor groups that claims they have been stiffed by the Mayor of Philadelphia--Mayor Michael Nutter. I was there to show support for the Union. As a Business man I feel it is very, very important to give Our Labor Unions fair and decent wages because of the give and take I mentioned earlier in this story. There was a lot of angry Union men and women there. They were chanting all types of things against the Mayor who they feel is not being fair to the Unions at all. I did notice that instead of being thugs like some people think all Unions are, District Council 33, City workers of many stripe, were going out of their way to be kind and courteous to people who were at the demonstration and any official people who were trying to get through the crowd like politicians, police officers, and Civil Affairs people. Things went pretty well. I had no idea about the demonstration and was really in CIty Council or City Hall to show support for an initiative that City Council woman Blondell Reynolds Brown was making to get more women on City Corporate Boards of Directors. She called the number of women on CIty Boards of Directors ``abismal'' and discussed the points of Her proposed Philadelphia legislation that will deal with the issue head on. City Council woman Jannie Blackwell ws also there to show support for the measure. Many women sat around a table and were recognized for the positions they hold on various boards, but Blondell said this was hardly enough. While I was at the meeting for more women on City Corporate Boards, I noticed many, many Union people on my Way in and as I made my Way out also. I decided to wait in line to get back into CIty Hall and show my support for the City Union. Because of my activities with the All Peoples Congress and The International Action Center over the years, I have ALWAYS been close to Unions and Pro-Union. I have, however, not had too many close friends and associates in City Unions except maybe my good friend Levin T. and my cousin Cedric B. [Cedric I don't see hardly at all, but Levin and I are becoming closer as friends because we dine out together from time to time.] So, I took the time to support the Union and chanted, shouted and even testified before City Council for them. It took about two hours of my day yesterday and it was well worth it. I ended up having one of the best days I have had all year. I signed up and stood in line to testify for a bill called 130004 which was for more sick leave. When finally I got up to the podium I explained that I really was Pro Union, but that I couldn't take any stand on the Bill because I didn't get a chance to read it because of the Hap-Hazard way in which the public is allowed to testify without actually reading the actual legislation or even a short synopsis or compilation of each Bill before they are allowed to have their say on how they feel about any certain Bill. I stated my name and my company's names first. I was done in about four minutes. I hadn't testified in front of Philadelphia's City Council since I did so about gentrification sever years ago. It is always good to reach that high point in your activism to testify in front of City Council Some activists do it all the time. I am too busy writing letters to to that or researching and writing. I'll try to do it more, not that I feel the exhilaration and the closeness with the people that was evident yesterday [March 14th, 2013] in Philadelphia's City Council. I also spoke with City Council woman Jannie Blackwell for a few moments and we were back on speaking terms in no time. I am sure she didn't even know how upset I was that I had been unable to have a meeting with Her last summer and was denied several time from her scheduling staff to have a meeting. {Her Appointment Secretary was Lauren Whitleigh at the time, last summer]. Since Jannie took the time to come over to me and recognize me and say She didn't quite know I was the one giving Her some important mail at Her meeting earlier about the Philadelphia Corporate Board Positions for Women, I decided that I needed to stop holding a grudge against Jannie and be more open-minded and accepting because She tries hard and works hard as well. So, that was my day in City Hall and City Council yesterday.
To get back on point, If We let ourselves slip back into the repugnance of greed and too much economic self-perpetuation, we end up pulling the plug on the very economic flow that we feed into and that feeds back into our bank accounts, our own wallets and our personal and family economic well-being as business owners. I think we have to talk to the Unions and their representatives and say ``We want to give you a fair contract; we know you have children to feed and school, taxes to pay, utility bills to pay, and you want to buy a few nice things after the food and utility bills are paid. Few if any people in Philadelphia are buying Ferrari's on a City Wage. '' We should extend ourselves in fairness and with dignity when dealing with the Unions and always allow a free-flow of ideas and information instead of the conflicts that have gone on Between the Office of the Mayor and District Council 33, for example.
When we understand the importance of giving solid contracts and the flow of the economy and stop hoarding money [because we are only harboring heartache and economic hardship for ourselves and the people we want to keep as good Laborers and different parts of our customer base when we hoard money as job creators, business owners and small business owners], we begin to understand the human side of how the economy works. We also begin to understand that creating deeply unnecessary hardship for others only begins to choke off the flow of funds back to us and create animosities in the customer base and among Labor Groups, Unions and Labor Rights Groups that are hard to heal--even over time--and that can create negative ripples in the consumer squadron.
There are a few more points I want to make. Please don't think I am ONLY Pro-Union. While I am a strong Union supporter, and a former and future member of the National Writer's Union, I am also well aware of the difficulties that come along with trying to make payroll, pay employee health benefits, keep up with taxes, utility bills, rental or mortgage payments, and the problems one runs into with employee lateness, demands for more pay when there just isn't enough money to go around and other problems such as maintenance, security and property upkeep. We have to, as business owners, put as much of our profits back into the company as possible. Taking a very, very large salary for your top executives and Big Bonuses only for top executives, Board members and top officers is NOT productive in the present economy when so many people are hurting for a basic good salaries, Ways to feed hungry families, Ways to pay rising tuition costs for children in college and decent health benefits.
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