"Weingarten ready to launch 1 of the most controversial crusades of her career: gun control"

[HiPointDem]

Weingarten has been a controversial figure, after being cast as the villain in the anti-teachers-union documentary Waiting for Superman. But after seeing six of her union's members gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary, Weingarten is ready to launch one of the most controversial political crusades of her career: gun control.

Weingarten is calling for the reinstatement of the assault weapons bans, limitations on rapid-fire ammunition, improved background checks and "serious consequences if a gun turns up in the hands of someone other than the registered owner.”

In pushing for gun control, Randi Weingarten faces a battle for support not only with the general public, but also within the labor movement. Labor's predominantly white male leadership has been reluctant to take up the issue, despite homicide being the third leading cause of workplace deaths for American workers and the number one cause of workplace deaths for women.

The UE, which represents many of the first responders who arrived at the scene of the Newtown shooting, has no position on gun control. Townsend explains, “When the list of topics that a union might address or confront is laid out, 'guns' would be far down the list, if on it at all. Unions exist in only a small fraction of the workplaces in the U.S., and we exert a limited influence where we do exist. And it's even harder than that, as you know, since the NRA uses the issue against unions in a far more effective way that they should be able to.”

Indeed, during union drives, particularly in the South and Midwest where hunting is popular, bosses often tell workers not to join because unions fund Democrats who want to take their guns away. In response, unions “remind the workers that if they really want to find out who is for gun control, they might try bringing their gun to work the next day,” jokes Townsend. “We advise them to call us from the jailhouse, since they will be arrested--and fired.”

AFT’s Weingarten is hoping to engage labor leaders on gun control, as well as the need for better mental healthcare access...Randi Weingarten says she wants to lead a discussion within the labor movement on the issue.

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/14354/randi_weingarten_calls_for_labor_to_take_up_gun_control


Reactions?