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<DIV dir=ltr><A
href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/09/16/labor-leaders-obamacare-and-the-fate-of-the-unions/">http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/09/16/labor-leaders-obamacare-and-the-fate-of-the-unions/</A><BR><BR><FONT
style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt" size=4>Democrats Fail Labor Again</FONT><BR><FONT
style="FONT-SIZE: 20pt" size=5><B>Labor Leaders, Obamacare, and the Fate of the
Union</B></FONT>s<BR>by SHAMUS COOKE<BR><BR><FONT size=4><STRONG>A funny thing
happened a couple of months ago: labor leaders finally awoke from their coma and
realized that Obamacare was not only bad for unions, but for working families in
general.<BR><BR>Once the biggest salespeople of the bill’s passage, union
leaders are suddenly full of rage and "shock" at the realities of
Obamacare.<BR><BR>The first sign of brain activity happened in July, when a trio
of national labor leaders sent a letter to President Obama, saying that
"[Obamacare] will shatter not only our [unions] hard-earned health benefits, but
destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the
American middle class."<BR><BR>Perhaps they should have read the bill first?
Instead of trying to convince their members and the rest of the country how
great it was.<BR><BR>But labor leaders aren’t accepting blame for their role in
selling snake oil to the American public. Instead they are blaming the
"implementation" of Obamacare, not its essence. For example, the recent AFL-CIO
conventionended with a resolution that critiqued Obamacare’s implementation,
saying that the bill "doesn’t live up to its promises."<BR><BR>But the AFL-CIO
knows better. Many writers — including this one — sounded the alarm bells about
Obamacare four years ago, but as the bill’s passage seemed precarious — since
many working people hated it — organized labor doubled down for Obamacare, since
they had "their" President to re-elect in 2012. Obamacare eventually passed —
thanks to organized labor — and unions vigorously celebrated their own
undoing.<BR><BR>Unions pressed ahead with Obamacare even after the Congressional
Budget Office predicted that as many as 20 million people could be victimized by
having their employer-based health care dropped, since these people would now be
"mandated" to buy health care as individuals.<BR><BR>Of course, if companies
were incentivized by Obamacare to save money on labor costs, they were going to
do it.<BR><BR>"But now!", shriek labor leaders, "Obamacare is incentivizing
employers to switch to part time employment! This is an unintended
consequence!"<BR><BR>Not true. In 2009 mainstream media outlets were talking
about this openly too.<BR><BR>Labor leaders are faking outrage now because their
members are being directly affected, as are millions of others, all of whom have
every right to blame labor leaders for this "nightmare
scenario."<BR><BR>Obamacare is perhaps the most blatant example of the complete
incompetency of many U.S. labor leaders, who’ve tied the fate of organized labor
to the Democratic Party, with disastrous results.<BR><BR>As the jobs crisis
grinds on and wages and benefits are being attacked across the board, this
"strategy" of labor leaders has proven be an utter failure. Union leaders have
remained silent as the Democrats have attacked teachers, public employees, and
implemented austerity measures on a state and federal level that shift the cost
of the recession on working people.<BR><BR>The corporate and government assault
on working people is quickly shifting the landscape under the feet of working
people in the U.S., and instead of devising a strategy to fight back labor
leaders are focused on "helping" Democrats in the incredibly naive hope that the
Democrats will eventually do "something" for organized labor.<BR><BR>Any
organization with leaders that have no vision and zero strategy should consider
selecting a new leadership. Organized labor is in the fight of its life, and the
Obamacare disaster will be repeated unless union members elect new leaders
willing to wage a serious, massive, nationwide independent
fightback. <BR><BR>Shamus Cooke is a social service worker and an
elected officer of SEIU 503. He can be reached at
shamuscooke@gmail.com<BR><BR></STRONG></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>