Bernie Joins the Picket Line

By Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Facebook Page

05 September 15

ernie joined workers in a picket line today at a plant in Iowa, where they're seeking higher wages. The last candidate for president I recall joining a picket line was Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.

For years labor unions have been marginalized or castigated by Republican politicians, and taken for granted by Democratic ones. Every four years the Democratic candidate for president promises organized labor that he or she will push hard for labor law reform once in office, but nothing ever happens. In 2008, Obama committed himself to the "Employee Free Choice Act," which would have strengthened labor protections and enabled workers to organize with a simple majority in an up-or-down vote -- but Obama never followed through. In 1992, Bill Clinton promised labor that if elected he'd make labor law reform a central issue -- but Clinton never pursued it.

Bernie is making stronger promises. He believes, accurately, that the decline of organized labor (from 33% of the private sector workforce in 1955 to less than 7% today) is directly related to the decline of the American middle class. If elected, I believe he'll follow through.

Your view?