Stop Anti-Union Hysteria

(Fake newspaper. The articles are satirical pieces about how the world of work may look in 2018. Delagalized unions plan to demonstrate for a return to the 10-hour day, 200,000 cops mobilized for the demonstration and politicians explaning how we cannot afford priveleges such as holidays and sick days. This was handed out in Warsaw.)

Unions are under attack from many sides. The liberal government doesn’t want to
deal with them, the employers’ lobby is trying to curb their powers and the media
is attacking them. The media attacks no doubtedly help to justify the others in people’s minds. There are more stories in some papers about corrupt union official than there are about corrupt politicians. The liberals all sing in a chorus about “how much the unions cost” and try to convince people that they have to be willing to work cheap. We also see the manipulative language of the media. They are always talking about things like “priveleges”. Days off become “priveleges”, health insurance, which is paid by each worker from his or her salary, is treated as a “burden” or “benefit” that an employer is unjustly forced to pay.

It looks as if the struggle for workers’ right should begin with the struggle against the liberal ideology and its main carrier, the mainstream media.