Scott Brown cast his first vote as a U.S. senator and make no mistake: it's a pro-corporate, anti-worker move.
He sided with Republicans in their successful effort to stop President Obama’s appointment of a union lawyer, Craig Becker, to the National Labor Relations Board.
The board's function is to certify unions and negotiate disputes between employers and workers. In other words, it represents the interests of laborers.
With this decision, Brown is giving all of his blue collar supporters the big bird. Brown's explanation?
He maintains that this union lawyer would not be good to corporations and other employers, and would therefore impact job creation. Yes, ahem, the same employers that outsourced our jobs to India and China.
Labor unions are very upset with Scottie this week, and justifiably so. The photo of Brown "arriving" in D.C. this week with his pickup truck (politican prop) only adds insult to injury.
One top labor activist this week said blue collar workers who voted for Brown did so against labor endorsements and will deserve what they get.
The Globe summed it up nicely.
“So much for his alleged independence,’’ said Rich Rogers, executive secretary-treasurer of the Greater Boston Labor Council in a telephone interview with the Globe. “He’s immediately capitulated to the Republicans.’’
The Greater Boston Labor Council, like many unions in Massachusetts, endorsed Brown’s Democratic opponent, Martha Coakley, but Brown was able to attract many of the rank-and-file workers through his image of a truck-driving everyman.
“We worked hard for Martha Coakley. But our members for whatever reason are angry and voted for Brown,’’ Rogers said. “And this is what we’re getting.’’.
It's too bad. Craig Becker would have helped strengthen a labor movement that has been laregly emasculated during King George's Republican reign.
Why did these workers vote against their interests?
Is it a case of misdirected anger at Democrats, even with undisputed knowledge that it was the Republicans who destroyed our economy and fleeced the nation over a decade?
Or is it that they hate the idea of a black president and woman senator so much that they would hurt their own family's economic interests?I saw the blue collar Brown supporters out there in the rain tailgating on election day, hollering at honking truckers and barking nasties at Coakley supporters like me. I would feel sorry for them but their votes give power to a party that is hurting my nation. This is what I really hate about Republicans, especially the Roves of the world. They are unashamedly deceitful and exploitive of the people who have the most to lose by their election. They lie and manipulate thousands of gullible hard working people into voting for them, and then, like Scott Brown, give them the big bird. Ted Kennedy and Martha Coakley demonstrated though votes and litigation that they acted on behalf of the people and everyday workers of Massachusetts. All the unions endorsed Coakley. Still, the workers gave these fine public servants -- and themselves -- the big bird. I'm not sure the "rank-and-file" grasps what happened this week, but they sure will get it when Scott Brown votes against Obama's job bill in the next few weeks.
