Union Bosses Serve the Total State, Not American Workers ｜ 10⧸11⧸24
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
143.60431
Summary
The International Longshoremen s Association and its 45,000 members went on strike last week, threatening to paralyze 36 U.S. ports along the eastern seaboard and Gulf Coast. But the strike has already been broken by the organizers.
Transcript
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When I found out my friend got a great deal on a designer dress from Winners,
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I started wondering, is every fabulous item I see from Winners?
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Like that woman over there with the Italian leather handbag.
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The International Longshoremen's Association and its 45,000 members went on strike last week,
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threatening to paralyze 36 U.S. ports along the eastern seaboard and Gulf Coast.
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The already fragile American logistical system gave the Union significant leverage,
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made the need to reestablish supply lines even more urgent.
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Now, since I wrote this piece, that strike has already been broken by the organizers.
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I don't think they expected the level of backlash that they got with one hurricane already devastating
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people and another potentially disastrous hurricane bearing down on Florida.
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The optics of denying hurricane victims needed supplies was just too bad,
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and Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida had already threatened to actually break the strike by using
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National Guard personnel to make sure that supplies continued to flow to disaster victims.
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But the temporary agreement with the Union is just that.
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It's only going to exist for a few months, so we've only delayed this issue.
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We haven't resolved it, and I think all the points in the piece are still very relevant.
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Now, conservatives have traditionally opposed unions for a long time,
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but a recent shift to focus on working-class conditions during the Trump era
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has really made many on the right more sympathetic to collective bargaining.
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However, as ILA President Harold Daggett declared,
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I will cripple you, many conservatives found it difficult to reconcile their newfound support for labor
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with the brash statement from a leader seemingly indifferent to the struggles of suffering Americans.
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Big union bosses don't serve the working class.
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We hope you're enjoying your Air Canada flight.
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Fast-free Wi-Fi means I can make dinner reservations before we land.
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Wi-Fi available to airplane members on equipped flights.
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In 1911, sociologist Robert McKells published Political Parties,
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a study on power dynamics that closely examined the inner workings of German labor unions.
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The book became a foundational work in what is now called elite theory or political realism
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due to McKell's formulation of the Iron Law of Oligarchy.
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The Iron Law of Oligarchy asserts that complex organizations,
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no matter how democratic or egalitarian they claim to be,
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will inevitably elevate a small group of organizers into a ruling class,
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transforming that organization into an oligarchy.
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The organized minority will always lead the disorganized majority.
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It is organization which gives dominion of the elected over the electors.
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The Industrial Revolution radically transformed the relationship between individuals and their labor.
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who once had a direct and personal connection to their work,
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suddenly found themselves thrust into the alienating environment of factory wage labor.
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Workers could no longer have individual discussions with their bosses about wages
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because their bosses were simply cogs in a much larger machine.
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The boss was no longer an individual owner with a meaningful connection or decision-making power,
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but a manager representing a faceless conglomeration of investors.
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Collective bargaining became the only way for workers to leverage their labor
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In his analysis, McKells discovered that despite labor unions claiming to represent workers,
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union leaders often put their own interests above those of their membership.
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Don't kid yourself, the future of the Supreme Court is on the ballot.
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The radical left want to eliminate the court's conservative majority
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by packing the Supreme Court with their own hand-picked justices to get the outcome that they want.
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Even President Biden has gotten into the act by making reforming the court one of his final priorities
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But don't be fooled, their endgame really is to pack the court.
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At First Liberty, they call this assault on the court what it really is,
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The frightening thing is that come January, their plan could become our nation's reality.
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Simple majority votes in the House and the Senate combined with the President's signature
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could turn their plan to pack the court into law.
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That's why First Liberty is sounding the alarm and they need you to join them.
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If we take action together, if we unite our voices,
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we can put a stop to the radical left's plan to take control of the Supreme Court.
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As the 2024 election approaches, we need to do three things.
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Find out where each of your candidates stand on the radical issues of packing and purging the court.
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The future of the court, or preserving it as an independent judiciary, is literally in your hands.
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If we lose the court, then we lose the country.
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That's why First Liberty is taking action and they need all of us to join them.
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With patriots like you standing for the Supreme Court,
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we can safeguard the independence of the judiciary, just as the Founding Fathers intended.
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And by saying no to the left's Supreme Court coup,
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we can secure the blessings of liberty and protect the future of our constitutional rights
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to learn how you can help stop the radical left's takeover of the Supreme Court.
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but their skills quickly elevate them beyond their peers.
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They transition from performing daily labor to full-time organizing and activism.
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Their days are spent speaking with politicians and negotiating with CEOs,
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which separates them from the very conditions that they aim to improve.
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Labor leaders inevitably realize their personal interests differ from those of the average union member.
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They're best served by becoming influence brokers within the ruling class,
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In the end, it's the organization and its influence that serves the leaders,
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not the leaders who serve the organization and its constituents.
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While I support American workers earning a wage that allows them to raise a family,
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own a home, and even striking for that particular cause,
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that's not the primary interest of the ILA or Harold Daggett.
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Although he may be negotiating for higher wages at the moment,
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not to serve the long-term interests of the working class.
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The ILA endorsed Joe Biden and supports the Democratic Party,
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which is responsible for allowing the nation to be flooded with cheap foreign labor from illegal immigration.
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In addition to increasing crime and the cost of living for their union members,
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this influx of illegal labor drives down wages for native-born Americans.
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If Daggett or the union actually cared about the condition of the working class,
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In fact, they would fight tooth and nail to stop it.
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But the ILA and Daggett don't care because workers aren't their real concern.
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Their true goal is power and securing a position of influence within the oligarchy.
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Now, I won't pretend that I knew anything about Daggett before this incident,
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but once I started looking into him, he's unfortunately exactly who you expect him to be.
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He embodies the image of an oligarchic elite pretending to be the champion of the working class.
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As a labor boss, Daggett earns over $900,000 a year with bonuses.
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He drives a Bentley, and he owns a 76-foot luxury yacht.
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The Justice Department has accused him of being connected to the notorious Genovese crime family.
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Daggett beat a 2005 racketeering charge after the decomposing body of a key witness
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was found in the trunk of a car outside a New Jersey diner.
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He lives like a criminal oligarch because he is one.
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Now, again, I would like to make it clear that I'm not against unions in principle.
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I don't like public sector unions because they're basically just holding American taxpayers hostage.
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They get more tax money from politicians and then use that tax money to get those politicians re-elected.
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It's just a closed feedback loop that doesn't help anyone except these unions.
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Ultimately, though, I do think it's justified for workers if they want to organize to demand a better wage and better working conditions.
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Many laborers do deserve better wages, safe neighborhoods, and affordable housing.
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None of those negotiations can ever be fruitful for the working class unless the borders are closed.
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As long as corporations have access to infinite cheap labor, they're never really going to come to the table.
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The recent shift by many on the right towards supporting the well-being of average American workers is a positive development,
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but we must be cautious not to embrace the corrupt oligarchs posing as labor leaders.
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Soulless corporations aren't the heroes here, but neither are big labor union leaders advocating for open borders while pocketing giant donations.
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Ultimately, both are part of the same destructive system.
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00:11:13.800
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00:11:59.300
Thank you everybody for watching, and as always, I'll talk to you next time.