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I live in Northern Nevada. I am a fortunate man. I have lived in three wonderful places in the west throughout my entire life, excluding my time in the United States Air Force.

When I was a toddler, my parents, grandparents, and one uncle moved from Lewiston, Idaho to Los Angeles, California. That’s where new jobs were being offered in our post-war nation. I grew up there in the 1950’s and 1960’s. It was a great life.

In 1977 I was offered a job in North County, San Diego. During that time period this part of the country was growing faster than any other area. I built a business in a community a close friend referred to as “another boring day in paradise.

After a divorce, a second marriage, and changes in my personal life, I made the decision to move to Reno in 1986. Four mild seasons which included snow, and the beauty of being surrounded by the Sierra Nevada mountains, convinced me that this was the place to be. After 33 years I remain convinced that I was right.

One of the jobs I had here in Northern Nevada was as a dealer and “pit boss” in the casinos. Eventually I had the same complaints as other casino employees. We were forced to depend on “tips” for the majority of our income. We were paid minimum wage and received inadequate healthcare; these were the only contributions from our employers who made millions of dollars each month.

One day I asked a fellow worker, who had lived in Nevada his entire life, why the employees in the gaming industry had never unionized. At one time they composed more than 50 percent of all of the state’s employees. He explained to me that we were a “right to work” state. That sounded good until he explained what that term actually meant.

Unions are only powerful when everyone is a member. This requires a “closed shop.” In other words, accepting a job includes accepting membership in a union. In a right to work state, this is not a requirement. Employees do not have to join the union. What this changes is the amount of bargaining power a union has when new contracts are negotiated. The truth is that they become powerless; the business owners have all power in the deliberations.

My choice for president in 2020, Kamala Harris, is a progressive, and that is priority number one for me. One of her proposals is to eliminate right to work states.

For decades Republicans have attempted to destroy all unions. Their support of big business continues to prove that they are the enemy of the working class. Companies which once made 30-70 percent profit each year are now making as much as 600 percent profit. Employee wages and benefits, adjusted for inflation, have remained virtually the same. Republicans vehemently reject an increase in the federal minimum wage, although today’s rate of $7.25 per hour is far below the poverty line.

More than 30 years ago the American worker should have foreseen the changes occurring in America and demanded that they share in the success of the businesses they helped to flourish.

Capitalism has failed the working class for a single reason; the greed of CEO’s and their boards of directors.

Tell your friends about my blog; “The Truth Lives Here.”

Op-ed by James Turnage

Source
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2020-contender-kamala-harris-calls-for-ban-of-right-to-work-laws

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