Many Americans are guilty of historical amnesia when it comes to the benefits we have as a result of labor unions. Today’s anti-unionism culture is growing, spread by corporations and politicians to plant ideas in the minds of the public to destroy the middle-class. The most forceful of these ideas is the one that attacks public employee unions and the negotiated benefits of members of those unions. Corporate lobbyists have spread misinformation about the “idea” of lavish public employee wages and benefits. Partly due to this, these myths are now widely accepted by the majority of citizens. Corporations and politicians continue to perpetuate myths that demonize public employees and union membership. They build on the idea and image of public employees who are greedily sucking the life out of state budgets with huge salaries and pensions. Again, it’s an idea that has been planted in the minds of American citizens to drive a wedge between the public and private sector to further fuel attempts to drive the middle-class in the race to the bottom.

There is power in becoming an active member of our Local. The power is in the ability to use resource available to us such as the freedom of speech, power of the pen, the right to gather publicly and present opposing views without being jailed. Recently, members of Local 6000 have utilized all those powers in writing our legislators in regards to stopping legislation that would be harmful to issues concerning retirement and benefits. Members have also used their power to speak by making appointments with their legislator and to testify at House and Senate Hearings. We have also gathered and held rallies in response to attacks on our retirement benefits, health care, public safety issues, and Wall Street’s attack on Main Street. In the past few months public employees have demonstrated we will no longer sit idly by while corporate America or politicians take what we have worked long and hard to obtain. We will gather where we need to apply pressure, speak up when we are attacked, and oppose legislation that threatens to unravel our futures.