Unions

Many of the things that we take for granted in our working lives today came about through the struggles of workers who organized themselves into Unions.
Heavily resisted at the time by the moneyed class, branded leftist pinko commies by the media outlets of said moneyed class, norms such as todays 8 hour workday, overtime pay, seniority, health and safety laws, compensation for injuries suffered at work, vision, hearing and dental benefits came into being via collective bargaining and very often through strikes. Collective bargaining by workers was so successful that other professionals use it as a tool for ensuring fair compensation. Groups such as judiciary bodies, police, doctors, teachers, nurses and of course professional atheletes are just some examples of people who use the power of collective bargaining. The paradox is that collective action actually empowers the individual by allowing the person to work to live and enjoy life and not having to simply live to work!!
What mere decades ago were derided as socialist, Leftist ideas, today serve so very many citizens, that it is taken for granted and treated as if it were always there.
During the recent attacks on auto-workers and their wages and benefits, there were artciles that credited the United Auto Workers Union(UAW)with the creation of the American middle class. AWESOME!! Leftist ideas benefitting so many ordinary citizens that an entire class is created. Just AWESOME!!
By any indicator Unions have improved the lives of their members and colaterally the economic health of the communities their members live in.
The Right-wing, their media mouthpieces, their Conservative political voices all said during the struggles for these and many, many other gains for workers that these insane ideas would never work and were doomed to failure.
But it looks like the Left is Right again!!