Todos Somos Wisconsin: Mexican Labor Reform

We are all Wisconsin.  Why?  Because the attack on labor unions that is taking place in that state is not just about Wisconsin.   For those paying attention, troubling correlations between immigration and the state of labor unions continue to appear within an international context.  Historically speaking, labor unions help boost wages, here in the U.S. and everywhere else in the nations of the world, resulting in the well-being of families’ lifestyles and increases in their purchasing power, which overall lead to stronger economies. 

Tragically, in Mexico there are also big talks of “Labor Reform”, to thrust Mexico even  futher into the marketplace of making cuts on benefits for workers.  In Mexico the PAN and PRI political parties tend to be friendly to big transnational corporate powers and so it appears that they are doing the bidding of these transnationals by pushing for this so-called Labor Reform, Scott Walker-style.   
 
This “Labor Reform”, by the way, is being sold in the Mexican media as “making Mexico more competitive” … sound familiar?  It shouldn’t be so surprising, being that it’s no secret that the ruling elite in Mexico have tended to be students of the Chicago school of conservative economics, particularly via Chicago Boys influential economists like Francisco Gil Díaz, Fernando Sanchez Ugarte, and Carlos Isoard y Viesca. 

Sadly, it wouldn’t also be surprising if this new attack on labor in Mexico results in further suppression of wages and further undoing of labor protection laws in that country, creating even more economic refugees that end up as undocumented workers in the U.S.  
 
In summary, what is happening in Wisconsin is not just about the U.S. and could very well be said that it’s about something bigger: an assault on Democracy itself, here and all over the world.

Update: Join the Rally to Save the American Dream in your town (February 26).  Visit this MoveOn.org link to find an event near you.

Update #2: The corporate news media channels show their conservative bias, once again, by virtually blacking out the story on the massive Save the American Dream rallies.  Check out this post: As Protesters Rally Nationwide to Support Wisconsin Workers CNN Features the Two Year Anniversary of the Tea Party.