Thursday, August 14, 2014

The Reagan Quote: Setting the Record Straight

by Nomad


Buried in the past post was a quote by Reagan and I think it is worth highlighting. It's a quote that many on the Right have used in a number of way unrelated to the subject that Reagan was referring to.
I made this meme to set the record straight.

Reagan Unions

If a right wing troll should ever challenge you to cite you sources, send him to this transcription of Reagan's Labor Day Speech at Liberty State Park, Jersey City, New Jersey on September 1, 1980.

Collective bargaining is not only a worker-rights issue but a human right. Human Rights Watch press statement issued in 2011 reminds us:
Article 23(4) of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, asserts that “everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.” Similarly, the International Labor Organization, (ILO), the United Nations agency responsible for drawing up and overseeing international labor standards, states in its Constitution and Declaration of Principles that the freedoms to associate and to bargain collectively are fundamental rights. Most major democratic countries honor the right to collectively bargain for both private and public sector employees.
Why then are governors like Wisconsin's Scott Walker able to officially cut collective bargaining rights for public sector employees? How can a federal appeals court uphold Walker's contentious law?
Unfortunately, the United States has not ratified U.N. Convention No. 87 on the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize or U.N. Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining. As such, the United States remains a member of an exclusive club of countries that have refused to ratify ILO Convention No. 98. This list also includes countries such as Afghanistan, Bahrain, China, Iran, Mexico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.
A nice group of human rights abusers one and all.