Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Are trades unions out to destroy American society?


Business Insider reports that a former official of the Service Employees International Union has been recorded discussing a plan to destabilize the USA.

A former official of one of the country's most-powerful unions, SEIU, has a secret plan to "destabilize" the country.

The plan is designed to destroy JP Morgan, nuke the stock market, and weaken Wall Street's grip on power, thus creating the conditions necessary for a redistribution of wealth and a change in government.

The former SEIU official, Stephen Lerner, spoke in a closed session at a Pace University forum last weekend.

The Blaze procured what appears to be a tape of Lerner's remarks. Many Americans will undoubtely sympathize with and support them. Still, the "destabilization" plan is startling in its specificity, especially coming so close on the heels of the financial crisis.

Lerner said that unions and community organizations are, for all intents and purposes, dead. The only way to achieve their goals, therefore--the redistribution of wealth and the return of "$17 trillion" stolen from the middle class by Wall Street--is to "destabilize the country."

Lerner's plan is to organize a mass, coordinated "strike" on mortgage, student loan, and local government debt payments--thus bringing the banks to the edge of insolvency and forcing them to renegotiate the terms of the loans. This destabilization and turmoil, Lerner hopes, will also crash the stock market, isolating the banking class and allowing for a transfer of power.

Lerner's plan starts by attacking JP Morgan Chase in early May, with demonstrations on Wall Street, protests at the annual shareholder meeting, and then calls for a coordinated mortgage strike.

Lerner also says explicitly that, although the attack will benefit labor unions, it cannot be seen as being organized by them. It must therefore be run by community organizations.

Lerner was ousted from SEIU last November, reportedly for spending millions of the union's dollars trying to pursue a plan like the one he details here. It is not clear what, if any, power and influence he currently wields.


There's more at the link, including a full transcript of Mr. Lerner's remarks. Highly recommended reading.

If this report is true, I hope and trust that Mr. Lerner and his allies will be charged with appropriate offenses. Let's see what side the Obama administration takes . . . it should be revealing, to say the least!

(Who am I trying to kid? We already know what side it'll take. The President has already demonstrated his support for his trade union allies. This will be more of the same, I'm sure.)





Peter

8 comments:

Nebris said...

C'mon, Peter, this is such obvious Right Wing nonsense. Corporate America gave a quarter of a billion dollars to Obama's campaign. He may have 'talked socialism' on the campaign trail, but he practices Corporatism in the Oval Office.

Here's just a single example in this subject: http://www.americablog.com/2011/03/nlrb-white-house-muzzled-us-in-budget.html

But it never ceases to amaze me how so many Americans are hoodwinked by this kind of crap.

BTW I did not vote for him. In fact, I boycotted the entire election. First time I didn't vote since 1976. The game has become rigged to an utterly obscene level.

Peter said...

Nebris, let me just point out that the recording of Mr. Lerner's remarks is now on YouTube;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvlvejSxBVQ

and the supporting article linked above, describing how Mr. Lerner was 'ousted from SEIU last November', speaks of precisely the same kind of plans.

If that evidence isn't enough to convince you that this is more than 'Right Wing nonsense' or 'crap', I submit that you need help.

I don't post articles like this unless I've investigated the evidence for what they claim, and find it at least sufficient to be worthy of further investigation. In this case, the evidence is about as solid as it can get, IMHO. It would certainly stand up in court, if necessary.

raven said...

Good- let him succeed- he is a passenger in this airplane like the rest of us- his mistake is in thinking it will somehow be easier to extort cash from the crash survivors-

perlhaqr said...

Y'know, I'm normally not particularly sympathetic to the SEIU, but it's hard to argue with the principle on this one, given the existence of TARP, and the special letters of marque Goldman Sachs have been given to play in the commodities market in a way investment houses are normally forbidden from doing.

Since neither the D nor R halves of the FedGov seem even slightly interested in countering this fleecing, ones thoughts do begin to turn from the ballot box to the cartridge box...

Explanation of my Letter of Marque commentary.

Dad29 said...

A minor quibble:

Your headline says 'trades' unions.

Typically, 'trades' are carpenters, electricians, plumbers, (etc.) who are in the "building trades."

SEIU is not a trades union in any way, shape, or form.

Robert said...

I was recently informed by my local SEIU union organizer at my door that "You are a union member even if you don't want to be. We are taking the money out of your paycheck automatically". I disagreed. Luckily, she was a cute young thing and no fisticuffs ensued.

Nebris said...

For what it's worth: http://nebris.livejournal.com/6071926.html

Nebris said...

http://scholarcitizen.williamcronon.net/2011/03/24/open-records-attack-on-academic-freedom/

More clear Right Wing attacks on any and all seemingly 'pro-union' information, all in service to The Corporate State.