It’s become one of the oldest tricks in the cynical political playbook: manipulate working class union households to vote against their own economic interests by dividing Americans along “social issues” such as guns, religion, gay marriage, and even civil rights issues.
But perhaps there is hope that at least some “Reagan democrats” are tired of being lied to by the right-wing. In desperate economic times, union households are seeing how the gun lobby is vainly trying to carry the water for the GOP to distract working families with cultural politics.
A West Virginia station reported:
Blacksville #2 Mine Idle After 440 Workers Stay Home — UMWA Workers Took Memorial Day in Protest
BLACKSVILLE — Coal production at a mine in Monongalia County came to a halt today when every union miner stayed home, as part of a political protest.
It was an idle day Monday at the Blacksville #2 Mine.
More than 440 workers who are members of the United Mine Workers of America took what’s called a Memorial Day instead of going to work.
Union officials say they took the day to protest after a film crew from the National Rifle Assocation showed up at the Consol mine last week to interview union workers.
They say the crew tried to get union coal miners to speak out against Barak Obama.The UMWA has endorsed the democratic presidential nominee.
