we have to have people ready to run that respond to the broad -- you know, the state labor union in this country, they're not going to come from labor but come from the progressive community, the same kinds of groups that are working together on the democracy front. candidates like elizabeth warren in massachusetts who you don't have to think twice about. sherry blome in iowa. i've only named a few. despite the fundraising problem, which is gigantic, it can be $20 million. where is $20 mill ion going to come from? we have the lowest registration in any democracy, let alone the turnout. so we're on voting rights, politics and senate rules, it's not just one thing, and we'll need to build a real movement to bring about a democracy here. >> your coalition is called the democracy initiative. who is funding your efforts? >> at this point everybody sort of funds it together. we're funding a lot of those ads, but it's voluntary -- >> we being labor? >> right, and we believe if we don't restore the democracy, the rest of the things our members want aren't going to be there. >> let me read you a

i'm sure we're talking here about the fact that as unions since ronald reagan declared war on labor unions and in the spring of one thousand nine hundred eighty one when he when he fired the patco workers from that day until this we have seen union membership union strikes union power just absolute collapse it went from around thirty percent when reagan came in to around seven percent of the private sector now and along with that we've seen an absolute flattening of wages how can those two down here we haven't seen a flattening of wages that's just not true i mean we play should just in wages right now are a dollar twelve cents higher than they were every thirty times ago every single can tile has gone up but the question is the have the rich as the top quintile gone up at a higher run prison is going up two hundred seventy five percent right but the bottom quintile is going to do so you know if you want to it hasn't even gone up what ten percent are you tom but you know what you're acting as a nihilist feel like it's destroying things so what's your solution make a solution is make everyb

someone else had left a labor union t-shirt.i found that particularly extraordinary. >> what did it say? >> well, it was -- it was from the service workers union. and it was that sticker on the sleeve that said, "i voted today." remember those were being passed out? >> the s.e.i.u.? >> yes. >> yeah. >> exactly. >> yes. >> and that's when i began to envision, "who has left this behind? someone who's a member of this union. who were they communicating with? was it douglass they were tempting to say to him, 'look what happened a few days ago.' i don't know. >> you're not going mystical on us, are you? >> maybe. i hope not. ye definily. >> whado you take that question to mean? >> i take that question to mean that there are times when poets have to go to places that cannot be explained away as a matter of evidence and logic. that we have to be able to reach out and put our hands on the intangible, to touch it, to feel it, to see it. >> martÍn, where do you think this language of the impossible, the unimaginable comes from? >> for me,

he voted against hit because of the labor unions. labor unions didn't like the legislation.aid it correct. proceed, negotiate, negotiate with caution, but there is another phrase we have to be careful about and this is pathway to citizenship. if we don't already have pathways to citizenship, we do. we have a pathway to citizenship now. the problem is the entire system is broken. my grandfather came and got citizenship through the pathway. that pathway was through ellis island and took 14 years to be a naturalized citizen. what senator rubio has put on the table is great start. president obama's plan is not senator's rubio's plan. >> sean: senator rubio, he has been clear about this, we don't control the border. we're going back here five or ten years. he says that is deal breaker for him. right now president obama doesn't enforce the laws now. to force arizona to come up with their own law that mirrored the federal law. are you with senator rubio -- if they don't control the border first and we don't solve the problem completely is that correct a deal killer for you? >> for

labor. and it is not fully defined. a lot of unions starting to figure out how to work with people who are not members. a lot of people who are members of unions are trying to figure out how they would fit into a labor movement. a lot is going to change. but labor is no longer on auto pilot, it is affirmatively moving in a new area, changing politics and or work place. >> and if you look attacks poli -- at the tax policies the republicans, they want to favor the rich. teachers, firefighters, this buri basically set up the right wing back in 2011. >> you're so right, ed, in fact i reported with you on election night. i was in the teamster's hall in toledo, ohio, and off camera i would talk to the teamsters who were there, folks not just from that unions but from other unions. they said you know, we started working on this 2012 election, back in 2011. we recognized we were under assault. we couldn't just stop when we won a referendum or a single vote, we knew it was a long fight. >> all right, john nicoles, great to have you with us. tha

now, whether this group talks about labor union money it remains to be seen, because labor unions areounding element of this. but i don't think any discussion about money in politics is complete without talking about labor. labor is really a huge funding source for the democratic party. host: explain what you meant by "massive new liberal plan." what is massive about it? guest: the largest groups on the progressive side, and it is expected to grow as big as 50 by the end of the winter. we have never seen a coalition as big as tackle three fundamental issues. you have seen organizations like health care for america now, a lot of different groups coming together, but it was around a specific legislative item, president obama's health-care bill, and this was in 2009. but never have we seen this kind of concerted effort. and as michael brune from the sierra club told me, he told them that this is a 10-year plan. this is not a one-year, two-year plan, not built around and election. this is something we want to be here to stay. big picture, hugely contentious issues -- we have not seen this

be this way out of there are other ways of doing things and i think what has to happen is the labor unions have to take the lead in saying look we are going to manage our own pensions not the way that the corrupt and unions have done but somehow their pension funding and social security and wall street have to be reorganized along what people expect with one hundred years ago everybody expected savings to be sent spend on new factories new means of production increasing what employing labor there has to be a renewal of class you know what that does that involve changing the rules of the game essential in your doubts because classical economics ended up with what markets end up people don't want to see where the logical culmination of. productive it seems they would rather they they would rather think that it's easier to make money in the stock market and by turning your money over to wall street and edge funds but as the pension funds and orange county and alabama notice the wall street looks they have them is just suckers and once that just take their money just like sam zell did at the c

to go back to the labor unions in the workforce and say well look we've promised you all these pensions rolling the money we're going to go bankrupt and given the fact that we control the government if we go bankrupt the government in the courts are going to tell us a wall street ok the one percent that ninety nine percent the workers savings are in the pension or at the very bottom of the list of complaints they do is they tell their workers if you don't change your pension plan defined benefit program to a defined contribution plan for all you know is what goes in you don't know what goes out then we're going to go bankrupt and wipe you out altogether so that's the kind of politics that's being played and it's a financial war of the wall street not only against labor but against industrial after it destroys the market and now they're waging this fight against anshan on the national level. michael hudson. i think we just i think we just lost him but the point while we try to get him back point i think that he's making here and it's a really really important one is that while he's had m

this union-friendly president will, by the way, the labor unions, businesses unions, they will go asgroup to the president. the nlrb and say, you have are back and we want our car routs. taxpayer dollars will likely be applied to these unions altamont neil: let me ask you this. watching the sigma right now and you and i end up in a hospital, stick a needle and our eyes regardless. >> sadly there's a problem because most people either do the right thing. they become victims of the unions that incorporate them. not all of them. there want to take care of people. they want to help. my nurse practitioners, whatever else. really mostly good people. the union is the problem. collective bargaining, the power, the ability. neil: the union bosses. all right. so much else. very smart guy. well, joe biden somebody in north dakota. they think it's a fritz. neil: are be away from the presidency. small business guys, they are talking about getting shaken down. nfc, afc, offensive lineman, defensive tackles, quarterbacks and cornbacks are all living united. to ensure the academic success of million

nonunion wages and this is an alliance between the government and corporations to demonize the labor unions, starting in the 60s if of -- with union busting and now the state level, 24 states passing right-to-work laws where people are paid yes. yes, there is slight job growth but these are not living wage. so who has the broken business model? >> who has the jobs. >> carolyn, there's a reason why in right-to-work states people are paid -- what did you say 2-30% less than union workers? >> you no what dells excuse me, carolyn, didn't interrupt you. >> you just laughed during my segment. >> i didn't. because what you're saying is outlandish, when we have historic unemployment, and in right-to-work states, there are more jobs and a better quality of living because we don't have these these artificially inflated health benefits. >> who caused this unemployment? that was the financial sector tanking economy. >> when is president obama going to take responsibility for this economy. let's to -- >> what happened in 2007 when he was in the senate -- >> i want to go back to hostess. neil, hostess ha

bring you the stories of workers fighting to keep their jobs as republicans tried to dismantle labor unions. later, john nichols joins me on the future of organized labor, and much more. stay tuned. he more you lose because for every 2 pounds you lose through diet and exercise, alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. let's fight fat with alli. ♪ >>> welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching. one video defined this year's presidential campaign more than anything else, mitt romney and the 47%. >> been told this, don't worry, we'll take care of them how. are we going to do it? in two months before the elections to convince everybody you've got to take care of yourself? there are 47% who will rote for the president no matter what. there are 47% who are with him who are dependent upon them that believe they are victims, that believe government has the responsibility to care for them, who believe that they're entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. it's entitlement. and government should do it. and they will vote for this president no ma

. >>> well, it has been inconvenient month for labor unions. show huge losses in membership and last week, a federal court ruled against president obama's recess appointments to the national labor of relations board. chief washington correspondent james rosen on labor in tough times for unions. >> we are going to stand up for america. >> fewer are standing up for organized labor. bureau of statistics said the union lost 400,000 members, decline of nearly 3%. it's the fifth year in a row that labor ranks sloping. the trend partly reflects the long-term memraging of the manufacturing jobs it isn't because of slump in motown. >> you only have to look to michigan to see how unions helped build stronger middle class and america. >> half of last year's dropoff occurred in the public sector unions. formerly one of organized labor bright spot. >> that is directly correlated to the job loss that we have seen in public sector. >> battle over collective bargaining rights in wisconsin and tough times for the local budgets play important roles. >> with the

the fact of the matter is that we've got a new era for labor, and it isn't fully defined. a lot of unionstarting to figure out how to work with people who aren't members, a lot of people who aren't members or unions are trying to figure out how they would fit into a labor movement. a lot is going to change. but the fact is that labor is no longer on autopilot. labor is really affirmatively moving into new areas. and that's going to change not just our politics, but potentially our work life. >> and if you look at the tax policies of the republicans that. >> want to favor the rich all the time, which brings me to the point, did republicans get into trouble when they talked about funding for teachers and police officers and firefighters? and this basically i think set up the scenario for the obama campaign to target in on the middle class and the people who had been targeted by the right wing back in 2011. >> you're so right, ed. in fact, i reported with you on election night. i was in the teamsters hall in toledo, ohio. and off camera, i would talk to the teamsters who were there, folks no

struggle that's why we're having this relationship with labor labor sees as relieved they are i never expected when i first started contacting unions that the response would be so enthusiastic but the labor movement has been kicked around now for quite a while and they have to fight and they see people fighting and they see their fighting the same enemy and they see them reaching out this movement has shown such an eagerness to reach out to the mainstream of the american public and the unions represent the organized part of that the focus on the one percent and the first time in an american movement i don't even think in the thirty's that the communist party did this in their mass work i don't even think they identify the enemy as the ruling class mr speaker. mr vice president. members of congress. distinguished guests and fellow americans last month i went to andrews air force base and welcome home some of our last troops to serve in iraq. together we offered a final proud salute to the colors under which more than a million of our fellow citizens bought. and several thousand gave their lives we gather tonight knowing that this ge

this shows the long decline of labor union membership.t yesterday we received a new and unsurprising data point from the bls. the number of union members fell by 400,000 last year, and overall membership is now at a 97-year low. why does this matter? well, the implication here is pretty clear. as labor goes, so goes the middle class. and make no mistake, labor is going. right now we're locked in a vicious downward spiral. republicans driven by corporate money and a cynical zeal for undermining one of the richest sources of democratic campaign contributions attack labor rights in state after state. they're frequently successful attacks make it harder for unions to organize and lead to fewer people joining unions. with fewer people in unions, there are fewer people who understand the benefits of membership for themselves and their family and there are more people to be talked into the company caricature of union bosses as boorish thugs and mafia goons. so public support for labor unions declines allowing republicans to launch even more succ

of jobs we want, and i'm a believer that the administration is so much in the hip pocket of the labor unionseally restricting job creation, and those three people that president barack obama tried to put on the national labor relations board without congressional approval, were all people who were extremely pro labor union. that's why they couldn't get through congress. >> here's why it matters. let me throw this out there. three people on the nlrb board right now. there are seats for five. that means two more can be appoint. president obama can probably not do it through recess again unless does it properly through recess. there's a question how heed it. going forward he'll have to do it through proper channels. >> that's right. now, right, the public is wondering, why shy care about the nlrb? the answer is, you know, eric, is because this is the regulatory agency -- remember the controversy a year or year and a half ago about boeing trying to move the facility out of seattle and moving to south carolina. those are the things the nlrb decides. >> is it a surprise that they have that much in

in this instance means that labor unions, trade unions must open up and provide more training so they can lay a brick. it means that the education system must instill the value of strong minds and that brings strong change. take your child to school. meet your child's teachers. exchange numbers. turn the tv off at night. take a report card every nine weeks and take your child to religious celebration once a week. most of the violence is from the bottom up, not top down. mothers say something like "i'm going to beat you boy. i'm going to beat you so the police don't have to do it one day". it was their own way of saying get some home training, some home cultivation is a big fact in the social order and we must restore homes but unemployed parents don't do as good job as parents with jobs. i'm all about welfare back to work. there are four steps involved. one the parents must have day care. if you leave the child without day care you're called an unfit parent and are arrested. you need day care. you need transportation and job training and a job. you need those four steps. what gives yo

. >> in the long run, the chances are good that they're going to lose their jobs and the labor unions are not telling the workers that. >> they pay for 110 season workers and the helps the full- time staff with medical b ills, housing, and electricity. >> the workers do not want to be identified because they are afraid it will be targeted by the people are a strike. one man was on his way to the farm when he was doused with petrol. >> he believes that the farmers can afford a 20% pay rise. he was part of an independent group of researchers who did a study into the workers' demands. >> it is good for the industry as well that we start moving as quickly as possible out of these low-skilled, low-paid wages. it is something the whole industry is in and we need to get out. >> this is one of the most unequal societies in the world and they want to rent some of the power and wealth away from the people who still benefit from the legacy of past lives. al-jazeera, south africa. >> was once counted among the largest reservoir is in africa, but it is now shrinking. it supplies water to four diff

managers told the company's labor union that they'll offer early retirement to about 3,000 employees aged 40 and older. the plan is part of restructuring efforts put in place after the company reached a deal on a rescue package with investors. the deal will allow renesas to receive about $2.3 billion from a state-backed fund and several business partners. the chipmaker cut 7,400 jobs through an early retirement program in october. >>> japan's nissan motor will slash domestic prices on its electric cars. that's to boost sluggish sales of these eco friendly vehicles. nissan says it will lower prices on all three of its electric models by $3,160 starting in april. the cheapest model will then be $25,000. that's with the government subsidy for buyers of eco-friendly cars. the automaker hopes that the price reduction together with the release of a cheaper model last november will help to spur demand for electric vehicles. nissan marketed its first electric cars in 2010. the firm has been promoting them as the automobile of the next generation. since then cumulative sales have stayed slugg