Schultz on right-wing attacks: ‘They don’t want you to stick together’

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It only took fiery TV and radio talk-show host Ed Schultz a few seconds to sum up the vicious right-wing attacks on America’s workers and the

“They don’t want you to get together and talk about politics. They don’t want you to get together and stick together for what a fair wage is,” said Schultz. Photo by Rebecca Cook

middle class.

“They don’t want you to get together and talk about politics. They don’t want you to get together and stick together for what a fair wage is,” said Schultz. “Now they are attacking your health care. They don’t believe you should have a pension unless they control it. And, now, Wall Street is in the fight.”

Schultz, the final speaker of the UAW’s 2011 Special Convention on Collective Bargaining, told the more than 1,200 delegates and activists, that the right wing is ratcheting up attacks against everyone from automotive workers to public school teachers as part of their strategy to win the White House in 2012.

It’s no coincidence, said Schultz, that public sector workers are under attack in Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey and elsewhere.

It only took fiery TV and radio talk-show host Ed Schultz a few seconds to sum up the vicious right-wing attacks on America’s workers and the middle class. Photo by Rebecca Cook

“It’s all about the money,” Schultz said. “It’s not about the workers. It’s not about the people. It’s this velocity of attack that is affecting our future. If this continues, America is not going to be the same as a country.”

“They are on the same page as us. They understand that this is not just the union’s fight. It’s the fight of all working men and women,” said Mike ORourke of Local 1853. Photo by Don Lehman

Shultz, whose show runs weekdays on MSNBC, is known for fiercely challenging right-wing pundits, politicians and conservatives. He believes in an America where the contributions of workers are celebrated.

As Schultz talked, union members listened and sometimes stood with thunderous applause.

“To not respect how you do it, how you’re trained, how you care about your job, how you interact and support your community, what you do as parents, they are attacking that,” he told fired up unionists just before they took to the streets of downtown Detroit for a protest that shut down the Bank of America office.

“You have to think about what built this country and what made this country great. It was the American worker that got organized, that got a voice that made it fair,” said Schultz. “They don’t want you to get together and talk about politics. They don’t want you to get together and stick together for what a fair wage is. Now they are attacking your health care. They don’t believe you should have a pension unless they control it,” Schultz said.

“If you can’t get fired up after listening to these speakers, then you don’t have any blood in your body. They have been so inspiring,” said Mike O’Rourke of UAW Local 1853 in Spring Hill, Tenn.

“They are on the same page as us. They understand that this is not just the union’s fight. It’s the fight of all working men and women,” O’Rourke said.

“I want the truth not the watered-down version. All we get from the TV news is only half the story, and it’s so basic in their delivery that it almost fools you into believing that maybe it’s not so widespread. Maybe this won’t reach me,” said Jimmy Mack, financial secretary at UAW Local 276 in Arlington, Texas.

“But watching people like Big Ed,” Mack said, “you see that not only will it affect you but that you are right in the middle of this war.”

Sandra Davis