Open Class Struggle in Wisconsin
PoliticsFeb 21, 2011While less than 10% of the private sector work force is in unions in the United States, these unions still represent a potentially massive force in US society, capable of mobilizing millions of workers and youth. This is in the process of being proven in Wisconsin, where the class struggle has broken out into the open.
One-Sided Class Warfare
For the last few decades, it has been almost entirely a one-sided class war. The employers and their political representatives (Republican and Democrat alike) have been conducting a policy of “death by a thousand cuts”. In the work place, workers have seen cuts in benefits, pensions and wages as well as speed-up (often masked by what is called “multi-tasking”). In education, high school students have seen increased class size and elimination of many extra curricular activities while teachers have seen wage cuts and increased work loads. Workers in the public sector have seen lay offs and cuts in benefits and pay while the