GOT THIS SPAM FROM NANCY PELOSI THIS MORNING -- putting monoply worries cart before rebuilding labor density horse

GOT THIS SPAM FROM NANCY PELOSI THIS MORNING

As we first introduce A Better Deal to the American people – with more to come – we are setting out three ambitious new economic initiatives:
 *  Good-paying, full-time jobs for 10 million more Americans in the next five years.
 *  Aggressive action to lower the cost of prescription drugs.
 *  Cracking down on the monopolies and mergers driving up Americans’ cost of living.

-- 70 million of our 150 million workforce are earning less than $15/hr -- teenager's wages.  the same 45% has lost 33% of its income share over two generations.  Wanna try again, Nancy -- to start a stampede towards Democratic Party doors?
-- The laws on the books could already stop Gilead from demanding $300 billion to wipe out Hepatitis C in America (Sovaldi) -- which no one raises a finger to enforce (Obama doesn't care).
-- The latter is the real deal if you believe an excellent article by David Dayen ...

What Do Democrats Stand For? The Party Finally Has the Right Answer By David Dayen, July 24, 2017
https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2017/07/24/What-Do-Democrats-Stand-Party-Finally-Has-Right-Answer

... which article predictably puts the exploited cart before the de-unionized horse -- predictably from our academic liberals who never seem to get whether the chicken of the egg came first.

I never understand why not.

6% union density in private economy is as pathological as 20/10 blood pressure: starves every other healthy process: the core pathology under girding the financialization of America.

It is also the easiest disease in the world to remedy: make union busting a felony (the penicillin of inequality?) .  Can be passed almost w/o oppo in progressive legislatures nationwide -- can be done by ballot initiative without waiting for pols to wake up (usual requirement to get on ballot: 5% of voters in last governor's race (appox. 3% of all registered voters).

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BIGGEST HOLD BACK I'M GUESSING: people think because there is a federal union certification and labor regulation structure that preemption bars states from criminally protecting collective bargaining.

LET'S LOOK AT THE FEDERAL ROLE.  Union certification under the NLRA(a) does not empower the right to bargain as most people think  -- like issuing a license (thought I saw this on Kevin MD's website recently).  Federal union certification ONLY blocks anyone else but the certified from bargaining on that work site.

All other (not very efficacious) protections applying to all labor/owner relationships -- certified or unionized OR NOT -- are enforced by the NLRB(b).

Now imagine there were no federal certification process or regulations enforced by the NLRB(b).  The states would be free to set up their own certification and rules structure.  California actually has a mirror CALRA for farm workers only -- who were left out of the NLRA(a).

If a future Democratic Congress included farm workers under the NLRA(a), California's CALRA/CALRB would presumably step aside.

People expect competing bureaucracies to draw federal preemption -- and I think they mistakenly mix that up with criminal civil rights enforcement.  But, there is no competing bureaucracy if violating this most important of all civil rights (ask Martin Luther King) is made a state felony.  And no state/federal complications even if they both punish union busting under separate criminal laws.

States requiring centralized (sector wide) bargaining (?); forbidding hiring replacement workers (?) -- depending on whether enforced on the regulatory or the criminal level (?) -- adding but not subtracting okay like with safety rules and the minimum wage (?) -- those are discussions for another day.