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Home Depot Founder: CEOs Who Don’t Fight Employee Choice ‘Should Be Shot’ |
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In Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, columnist Thomas Frank showed just how far the corporate types will go to stop workers from having the freedom to make their own decision about joining a union and bargaining. Frank quotes Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus as saying CEOs who don’t contribute to Republicans fighting the Employee Free Choice Act “should be shot.”
During an Oct. 17 conference call about allowing workers to choose a union through majority sign-up, Frank reported Marcus as saying:
This is how a civilization disappears. I’m sitting here as an elder statesman, and I’m watching this happen, and I don’t believe it.
If a retailer has not gotten involved with this, if he has not spent money on this election, if he has not sent money to [Minnesota Sen.] Norm Coleman and these other guys [who oppose the Employee Free Choice Act], [they] should be shot; should be thrown out of their goddamn jobs.
By restoring workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for better wages and benefits, the Employee Free Choice Act will level the playing field that today leaves all the power in the hands of corporations, not workers. Big Business and the front groups set up by corporations are preparing an all-out, $200 million propaganda and lobbying war to block it.
Marcus, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Big Business are out of joint because working families won a strong victory on Nov. 4, electing Barack Obama president and picking a stronger pro-worker majority in Congress. However, winning an election isn’t the end of the fight. Now, our elected leaders need to tackle the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. A big part of economic recovery must be to ensure broadly shared prosperity and to rebuild America’s middle class by enacting the Employee Free Choice Act.
The issue is power, plain and simple, Frank wrote, citing employers’ routine use of forced attendance meetings with workers in preparation for elections, threats to shut down if workers win their union, rewarding anti-union employees and firing union supporters.
(Majority sign-up) is about power. Management has it, workers don’t, and business doesn’t want that to change. Consider the remarks made by Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott at an analyst meeting on Oct. 28, when he was asked about the possible coming of card check:
We like driving the car and we’re not going to give the steering wheel to anybody but us.
Writing on Open Left, Michael Whitney lays out the real deal:
The anti-Free Choice groups say they’re “fighting for worker freedom,” and that they have the interests of America’s working families at heart. But their true intentions are now quite clear.
CEO-types like Home Depot’s Bernie Marcus and Wal-Mart’s Lee Scott have their hands on the steering well, and anyone who fails to heed their battle cry to block attempts by workers to take control of the wheel “should be shot.” It’s too bad that for the last several decades, this cavalier attitude has led these greedy CEOs to drive the car off the economic cliff.
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James,
You are crazy, you’re phrase “must be to ensure broadly shared prosperity and to rebuild America’s middle class by enacting the Employee Free Choice Act” is assinine. Tell me why as a hard working middle class family my money should go to those who don’t carry their own weight and want to depend on the handouts for those of us that do work.
This is not about fairness, this is about robbery. Take what I have because I have it and worked for it, because you are unwilling to do the work to get it.
Crawfish
You must have been drinking that right wing kool ade. When a company has a union contract and both sides follow it, both employees and employers benifit. In this case everybody knows what is expected of each other. I take it that your not in a union affiliated company becasue if you were you would know that there are no handouts and if somebody doesnt want to pull thier own weight then they will find themselves gone. Relax, the world is not going to end.
The lazy are the ones who do no work and make money off of others labor. Like the rich do in the stock market. They produce nothing and gamble on peoples futures. The worst is profiting on the sick and infirm. Anyway, I think your anger is better directed at the banks, mortgage companies, and hedge fund managers that are responsible for the financial meltdown we’re in now. Read the Trillion Dollar Meltdown by Charles R. Morris. Unions are trying to get a fair share for the workers whose wages haven’t risen (due to inflation) since the mid-70’s.
It is amazing that to me, that in this day and age, we can have people who have not only drank the right-wing kool aide and believed the rhetoric against the Employee Free Choice Act but have became drunk with the misconception that it is wrong for America. It is relatively easy for people to have a skewed opinion on something that they probably have no practical knowledge about, a.k.a involved in a union organizing campaign. If people believe that bailing out the power brokers on Wall Street is a sound economic policy but not allowing workers to utilize majority sign-up to enhance their working lives through a contract for their labor, we have significant problems in our country. I, for one, will not stand by and allow corporate elitists and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to bamboozle the American public into thinking the Employee Free Choice Act is bad. It is what our failing economy needs right now. An empowered middle class, boosted by workers having a better chance of organizing a union of their choice!
Crawfish,
Because someday, hopefully not, you may find yourself, a hard working American, in a situation where you need help too. It’s sad that there are so many criminals who take advantage of the system so they DON’T have to work. I say let’s crack down HARDER on those worthless, lazy, criminals. Our country is too soft on them. Besides, the same thing could be said about the greedy CEO’s who rake in millions of dollars a year in salaries on the backs of their underpaid workers, i.e. Walmart!!!!!!! They are equally as guilty of robbery as those who live off welfare by choice.
Crawfish,
The implication you draw about a return to the welfare state we had for 40 years is not what this is about. If that were the intent I would not support this at all.
What it is about is for one, right now we have skilled workers who would love nothing better than to work but can’t because fat cats have pulled a Chappaquiddick with the economy.
Second, this fight is about so called “right to work” laws that are in fact “right to subjugate” laws that strip workers of fair treatment and decent wages and healthcare.
The even playing field we want is also an even paying field. Corporations and the wealthy have had all the tax breaks thrown their way while the middle and the working class have borne an unfair proportion of the burden.
We finally have a chance to level it off a bit. Let’s get behind that and should the other policies start jamming us again that is a seperate fight that we should raise hell over then.
Fairness towards workers whom wish to join or form a union is not a handout nor is it about taking hard earned money from middle class folks. It is simply a right of folks to form labor organizations, a right too long denied in America
One has a right to form or join labor organization and companies whom deny worker rights should be nationalized and its executives jailed.
Radical talk like “shooting them” and the like is laughable from those opposing. Robbery charge is also a meek attempt at opposition and shows ignorance of subject.
If thats the way Home Depot’s CEO feels about Unions,I guess he doesn’t need any of my money! I’ll never shop there again!
These CEO comments are very distrubing.
It really says something when big business and CEOs, who make billions of dollars a year, are willing to spend billions of more dollars, which is money illegally spent, if it’s corporate money, to keep people from organizing if they choose to do so. If you ask any hard working citizen who has lost a job, or those still working who cannot seem to get ahead because wages have not kept up with inflation, or those who do not have health care, because no matter how hard they try to manage their money, they cannot afford it; ask them who they believe should be shot.
I am sick to death of anti-union bashing, as though it has been unions all along that have caused this tremendous economic disaster that is destroying so many lives in this country. Why do you think so many corporations and even members of Congress do not want to bail out the “Big Three”, yet they gladly handed over $700 billion to Wall Street. Wall Street IS NOT UNIONIZED, but the auto workers, who have always had the strongest unions in America, before corporate greed took over their management, have been struggling to hold on, even though they have made huge sacrifices and made many concessions to hold on to their jobs, such as taking a 50% pay cut. Yes, that’s right. This is something you will never hear about on mainstream news. The CEOs have decided it would not be in “their” best interest to modernize the auto plant, make them competitive, and insure their prosperity by protecting their workers. They just don’t see the connection.
To “crawfish” - you don’t see the connection either. Blocking attempts to organize is a violation of a person’s civil rights. You think you are better off because you have “what I have because I have it and worked for it” insinuating that others “are unwilling to do the work to get it.” You are so misguided. I am curious as to what kind of job you do, and why are you so fearful of unions. I assure you, they WILL NOT take anything away from you, unless your position allows you to exploit others, and you do not want to give that up.
With the decline of unions, we now have people working longer and longer hours (the 40 hour work week does not exist for most people); people are earning less than they did before; people cannot afford even the basic necessities, even if employed; many people no longer have health care; there are very little stringently enforced safety regulations; no job security; no guaranteed “living wage”. There is nothing for the employee that would even encourage loyalty or a strong work ethic. This is why companies fail. Don’t blame the workers. I have two young adult children who are in the work force, and they are asked to work long hours, sometimes having to comply with unrealistic demands or expectations, poor pay, especially considering the jobs they do, no guaranteed pay raises, no job security; they cannot address serious or dangerous conditions, because they know they will just be let go. They basically have no rights at all as honest hard working employees. They are dispensable, and they do not matter. I had really hoped my children would be better off than I was, but that is not the case, and as long as we have greedy corporate execs and a government that does not put forth some guidelines to help and protect workers, and union-bashing greedy, ignorant capitalists, who do not know the first thing about what has really made America strong in the first place, then my children and yours will not have a better future, unless they are in that upper 2% echelon of the wealthy in America.
Management can steer the car, just pay us to drive!
Perhaps Bernie should go back to school and learn that all civilized societies that have disappeared were because, unions were eliminated, this asshole fit’s right in with our current situation, greed, power and coruption , is what really brings nations down, PERIOD KOS
During the election cycle the television was awash in ads that depicted union workers as mob thugs and gangster types. The distortions and outright lies these ads contained were meant to confuse and intimidate the public into thinking there was some kind of conspiracy to start swindling and cheating workers out of their hard-earned pay. Well, it didn’t work for the most part. There was one heck of a lot of republicans not getting re-elected who wanted to defeat this forthcoming bill.
The American public has chosen to change to a more transparent and fair government. They are through with the devisive and mean spirited way of governing our nation the republicans were infamous for. Some republicans remain in denial and haven’t figured out that there is a new sheriff in town. Things ain’t like they used to be. The politicians that remain in denial will again be removed during the next election cycle in two years. America has wised up, they should too.
As far as Bernie Markus goes, I believe he believes what he said, I also believe he has spent alot of time figuring out how to screw the people who help him make millions. You, me and his employees who would be fired for trying to organize!
I am hoping this will actually be something that does go through. I work for a company that is union strong but hope that it will get stronger. And talking to some others like the person who was fired from the cable company for trying to organize, I can only see a positive results.
Crawfish I am sorry that you feel this way about unions. My neighbor worked in a factory which was non-union and was fired for missing work even though he followed the company policy. I tried to help him with his fight to get just paid for his unemployment benefits, but their lawyers were much tougher than his sister and himself. He had worked there for 29 years.
It amazes me that some people refer to others as just wanting hand outs and in the same statement does not condemn CEO’s and corporations who will pay hundreds of millions of dollars to lobbyist. There has to be accountability from the top on down going forward if we are to survive economically and compete with the rest of the world. I work for a long distance provider and the last CEO who was with the company for 3 years walked away with a 54 million dollar severance package and 84 thousand dollars a month for the rest of his life. Why? Because he could. It just isn’t right and company employees have no voice.
Crawfish -
People who spout off about “the lazy” are misguided at best. While there may be a tiny fraction of people who are downright lazy, why use them to justify “I got mine” intolerance?
You claim you’re part of a hard working middle class family. And your point is? The overwhelming majority of us are part of hard working families. Unfortunately, some of us are a lot poorer than others. According to a recent UN Report, US workers are the most productive in the world, yet we come in 92nd in distribution of wealth. What’s more, our health care system is ranked 37th in the world!
While some people would rather rest in the soiled bed of ignorance, many more of us want facts in order to make informed decisions.
In the 90’s, 18% of the wealth was owned by 1 % of the [richest] people. Today, that same 1% owns over 40% of the wealth. How’s that for “redistribution of wealth”? It went from us up to the top 1%! Crawfish, you’ve swallowed the corporatist propaganda hook, line, and sinker by prattling on about “lazy people”. That’s exactly what the wealthy want you to do. When workers fight amongst themselves we’re not able to focus on the unethical, immoral practices of the thieves who are featured on the cover of Forbes 500.
It appears your understanding of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is wanting. In a nutshell it means that if over 50% of the workers sign pledge cards – i.e. “vote” - to join a union, the employer must recognize the union. The EFCA requires majority approval. That’s how lawmakers are chosen Those receiving 50% plus 1 of the vote are elected. Why would the choice to join a union be any more difficult than running for office?
Apologists for corporate America holler “class war” when workers demand equality. There is a class war! Workers did not start it! Ever since the first working stiff was enslaved to set the first stone in the first pyramid in ancient Egypt, the bosses and the wealthy have been exploiting workers A strong labor movement is a defense against unfettered greed. The stronger unions are, the less poverty and human suffering there is.
The EFCA would provide a somewhat fairer playing field.
And consider this: A union leader who said, “CEOs opposing the EFCA should be shot”, would be arrested and hauled into court for inciting violence.
Wake up and take a look around. By every measure, the wealthy are growing richer while the rest of us struggle to make ends meet. And you have the gall to repeat the lie that it is the “lazy” who are at fault? Turn that record over. That tired old refrain is belied by fact!
Politicians who oppose the EFCA are enemies of workers!