Working for the freedom from employment discrimination and the right of working families to fair pay, job safety, secure retirements and affordable health care have been goals fundamental to the union movement, which has long partnered with the civil rights and women’s movements and, more recently, with the LGBTQ community.
Where does the Republican Party put its energy? On anything that furthers the interests of the wealthiest. Tax cuts and kicking government are right at the top of that list.* Also near the top comes blocking minimum wage increases, blocking workplace safety rules and keeping lots of people unemployed so they are desperate to take any nasty, dirty, low-paying job, etc. But next to tax cuts and keeping the government from operating, Republicans fight to keep unions from being able to organize because the power of working people acting together collectively begins to challenge the power of concentrated wealth that corporations represent. To this end, Republicans hate and fight the Labor Department and, now, the new nominee for secretary of labor.
