So You Want to Know More About Unions?
A number of commentators in yesterday's post said that if liberals were to take labor issues seriously, they needed more education on them. Since I've been trying to do that on and off here at TPM and before on my own blog, I thought I'd compile a sampling of posts in one place as a start. Many of them have links to other resources on labor that folks will hopefully explore.
Start with Why Unions? Labor 101- a compilation of older labor posts I put together over at DailyKos to explain carefully why liberal activists should take union issues seriously, as a human rights issue, as a way to increase wages for workers (both in and outside unions), how unions strengthen the overall economy, why overall progressive policy depends on a strong labor movement, how labor historically supported the advance of civil rights, and the legal and economic challenges facing labor that liberals should take more seriously.
Then jump below the fold to a sampling of other more recent posts I've linked to on labor as a human rights issue, the brilliance of labor strategies that liberals don't know about, right wing myths about unions, and labor and trade debates
Unions are the First Amendment- a post pointing out that for all liberals talk about civil liberties, there are essentially none for most people 40+ hours a week in the workplace, unless there is a union in place.
Anti-Unionism is the Date Rape of Corporate Crime- anti-union lawbreaking is a pervasive and almost completely ignored crime wave across the country.
The Crime Wave No One Talks About - Theft of Wages in the Workplace- highlighting the need for unions, employer theft of wages through violating wage laws is another crime wave ignored in public debate
How Courts Shut Down Union Free Speech- how unions essentially lack core free speech rights because of federal labor law
MLK Jr. Died at a Union Picket Line- a post reminding people that Martin Luther King Jr. died in his final campaign asserting the truth that union rights are integral to human rights-- and his long history of pro-union support
On Strategy by Unions
The Brilliance of Labor- how unions not only aren't dying dinosaurs but are being more successful - and more savvy - than their liberal friends think
Long-Range Vision of the Labor Movement-
a post emphasizing part of that brilliance being the ability by labor
to excute long-term plans over literally decades, a degree of foresight
not evident in much of progressive politics often driven by the next
election.
What Do Organizers Do?- a post explaining what labor organizers do, which is profoundly deeper and more transformative of building new leaders than most "organizing" by political types that mostly activates already empowered educated folks.
5000 Janitors Organize in Delay's Back Yard- an example of how unions succeed in Texas, one of the most rightwing places in the country
On Right-wing Myths about Unions (which a lot of liberals buy into)
How Corporate Right Lies About Union Corruption- a bit about anti-union front groups and how they twist statistics to pretend unions are dominated by corruption
Myth of Union Corruption- not only do almost no unions fit the stereotype of mob-infested institutions, but even most of those tainted by crime connections still serve their members better than the corporate criminals dominating large parts of the economy.
Biased Anti-Union Reporting- how bad journalism feeds rightwing myths about union self-enrichment and corruption
On Trade and Labor Rights
Fair Trade, Immigrant Rights, Free Labor- how immigrant rights and union rights are at the heart of the debate over building a just global system for both U.S. workers and the rest of the world
Bashing China (and the US) from the Left - and Below - a recent post on how union rights change trade debates from country vs. country standoffs into an understanding that trade deals are about elites collaborating with each other to enrich themselves at the expense of their own workers"Free Trade" is Not about Freedom
- highlighting the Orwellian language of trade discussions where
stopping child slavery and worker exploitation is considering
opposition to freedom
Thank you so much for posting this! I'm looking forward to learning more about this topic.
July 11, 2008 9:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Nice work Nathan. Great to have you posting here.
July 11, 2008 12:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, there's Bruce, hi ole sock.
July 11, 2008 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
John:
How are you? Long time no speak.
Bruce
July 11, 2008 6:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bslev,
I'm getting older and poorer. Thanks Bush.
July 11, 2008 6:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Likewise John about the age and poorer gig. But if I can age as well as you have I will consider myself a very lucky man.
July 11, 2008 9:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow. Thank you SO much!!! I am bookmarking this so that I have references when I get into it with a liberal who wonders why they should care about labor issues. I'm especially greatful for the post on civil liberties--many well-meaning liberals are so concerned with this topic (as am I) but don't realize that people have had to fight for every right in the workplace--even the right to go to the bathroom while on the job!!
July 11, 2008 12:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
It would be great to continue this dialogue 4workers, with Nate's help, on an ongoing basis. I think there are quite a few of us around here who have a keen interest in labor issues outside the realm of presidential politics.
July 11, 2008 12:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks Nathan.
I will be the first to admit, on the specifics, I am not the most well versed on the labor movement. I have always supported organized labor and will continue to do so. I am bookmarking this page and will take my time going through the links to hopefully get more up to speed on the issues that face organized labor and the programs in place to further the cause.
I am hoping that there are more discussions about this important issue for the progressive movement here...and after going through the links I know I will be more informed for those discussions.
July 11, 2008 12:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nathan, thank you very much for taking the time to put this information together in one place. I've not yet had time to take a look but I'm sure the information there will be helpful to many.
As one other idea that I ask you to consider for how to help enhance understanding about unions: consider an open-ended thread on at least a semi-regular basis devoted to questions denizens have and your efforts to provide answers/relevant links to them.
I reiterate that I mean to make this request of Jo-Ann as well if she is interested and willing. Your two heads are of course better than either one alone and that way not all of this work falls on just one of you.
One other thought, this time an idea for a single post, which perhaps Josh might be willing to archive in a well-labeled, accessible place for ongoing reference: 10 Things TPM Cafe Denizens Can Do to Help Support and Grow the Labor Movement. Arrange them roughly from least time intensive and demanding to most so people with varying degrees of time and interest will have options on concrete things they can do.
July 11, 2008 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think union members need to become more politically sophisticated, all too many are either one issue voters or Limbaugh dittoheads.
Here's a post siimilar to one I offered on another thread;
I've always worked closely with union members and other blue collar people, and back in 1980, most were politically unsophisticated. They were born and raised in Philadelphia, a Democrat/Union town, got a union job, and became Democrats, the natural progression.
The one political issue they thought they knew about and that they all had in common was their hatred of Welfare, and I think this was the view of unionized people all over the country. I think they had a warped view I won't get into, but suffice to say, it was warped.
One day, a Presidential candidate came along and promised to get rid of "that welfare queen in her
Cadillac." You know the one, we all saw her;
A big fat black lady in a red Cadillac convertible who would go to the Supermarket, park that Caddy at the front door and go inside and buy the best of the best; Steaks, chops, shrimp, lobster, Ice Cream, candy, cookies, cigarettes, soda, and beer if available. Of course she would pay for all of this with food stamps, then drive that Caddy back to her taxpayer paid for house.
So the union guys and other blue collars all over the country flocked to this guy and became the Reagan Democrats. And in the irony of all ironies, even the Air Traffic Controllers jumped on this anti welfare bandwagon and voted for Reagan.
In the end, those in the unions and the other blue collars, in their shallowness, built the gallows the Republicans used to hang them for the next 25 years.
July 11, 2008 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
The bigger problem is that so many union members buy in to the republican myths and become one-issue voters whether its is guns, right-to-life, etc instead of voting for the candidate that would improve their working conditions
July 11, 2008 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder why are there so few comments here.
HEY!....remember Nathan's column yesterday, titled;
"Do Blogs Take Labor Issues Seriously?"
July 11, 2008 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
As Beavis says, "If I wanted to read (here, a semester's worth of Newman blogging), I'd go to school."
July 11, 2008 3:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ellen,
heh heh heh
July 11, 2008 6:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think a lot of liberals - like myself - would take labor issues more seriously if unions tooks labor issues more seriously. I'm well aware of all the attempts by the right to crush workers' rights and generally support labor, but I've also had personal experience with the underhanded tactics used by unions (the UAW in my case, but I suspect many of the large unions are similar). I've also lived in Hawaii and Ireland where the unions are in relatively greater positions of power compared to most of the US, and frequently use it to block any kind of meaningful improvement to the horrendous education and transport systems respectively. Unfortunately, just like large corporations, when unions become large and powerful they often stop looking out for their members' interests and start looking out more for their leaders'.
So yes, I already know "why unions" in the abstract, but in practice it's difficult to actively maintain that support when every real-life example you come in contact with shows gross disregard by unions not only for other people but the workers they supposedly represent.
July 11, 2008 5:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would be interested in your story about your experience with the UAW. It's kind of a little hard to know where you're coming from if you just throw that out without explanation. Is it something you could share with us?
July 11, 2008 6:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
A couple of years ago they tried to unionize the postdoctoral fellows throughout the University of California system. I had only just started when this went happened, but as far as I know there was no push from postdocs for unionization - our pay and benefits were as good or better than those in similar positions elsewhere, there were no grievances that I knew of, and it's also kind of odd to have a union for workers whose jobs are inherently temporary (1-2 years at most). Since most postdocs' salaries are paid off of grants rather than directly from the university, there was no reason to think that we would have anything to gain, but would have to pay mandatory $400/year for union membership. I was never able to figure out who was really behind this movement; the only person affiliated with the nascent union branch, called PRO/UAW, who was ever identified by name was a former head of the graduate students' union (finished but apparently not a postdoc himself). The organizers, whoever they were, refused to meet with the campus postdoc organization.
So they sent out people to get postdocs to sign union cards. They told many people, including myself, that this was not actually indicating support for the union per se, but that if enough cards were submitted then a vote would be held. Being new and not knowing what the level of support was, I thought that was fair (later I asked around and was only able to find one who supported unionization, and then only weakly). They didn't mention that if over 50% of the workers sign cards, it's considered a done deal and there is no vote. Incidentally, they were also doing this on the work site, during work hours, which is illegal.
So it was quite a surprise, after one visit from some anonymous recruiting rep and then hearing nothing for months, to receive a notice from the state labor relations board saying that we were all now union members. There was a huge uproar over the fraudulent process and hundreds of people sent in letters rescinding their signatures. The union group sent out a letter claiming that after the retractions they were about 100 short of a majority (out of about 7000 total, I think; but I suspect they were far below that) - yet instead of holding a vote, which would have been the standard procedure in that case, they completely withdrew the application. The whole thing indicated to me that they didn't really care about any issues we might be facing, and just saw us as nerds who would roll over and serve as their cash cow.
July 12, 2008 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nathan, you have done us all a service. I, too, will bookmark your post for future study. There are just too many links there to do them justice in an hour or so. None of us ever has too much education on such an important subject as the labor movement.
July 11, 2008 6:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well before we get too hung up on how union members vote, the facts show that union members vote at about a 65-70% rate for the recommended, working family friendly candidates.
July 19, 2008 12:05 AM | Reply | Permalink