Suddenly Unions Don't Seem So Obsolete Any More...

POSTSCRIPT: The Tribune internal Q&A website on today’s bankruptcy filing states that "all ongoing severance payments have been discontinued.” So if you’re one of the large number of reporters, editors and other staffers at the L.A. Times, the Chicago Trib or other papers who got sacked and didn’t get your severance in one lump sum, you have a real problem. A sit-down strike, such as that currently being waged in that Chicago door and window factory, seems a fitting and proper response, though you’ll need help from those of your former colleagues still employed to get back into the buildings. Washington Post 12/9/08.

The start of a hopeful trend? It looks as thought the case of the angry ex-employees occupying Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago has resonated.

Maybe, just maybe not just reporters and editors, but other desk-bound employees are beginning to understand that they are “workers” too. Maybe, just maybe, the “blame the unions” meme isn’t having the same effect it has in the past, and the merits of organizing are becoming painfully clear to Americans confronting our dysfunctional economy.