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Chamber of Commerce vs. Labor Unions: Guess who Wins?
Labor is the great producer of wealth: it moves all other causes._____________________________________
Congressman Daniel Webster, 4/2/1824
With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organization that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in man, than the other association of men.
Clarence Darrow, The Railroad Trainman, 1909
Without labor nothing prospers.
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The history of America has been largely created by the deeds of its working people and their organizations. Nor has this contribution been confined to raising wages and bettering work conditions; it has been fundamental to almost every effort to extend and strengthen our democracy.
William Cahn, labor authority and historian
We insist that labor is entitled to as much respect as property. But our workers with hand and brain deserve more than respect for their labor. They deserve practical protection in the opportunity to use their labor at a return adequate to support them at a decent and constantly rising standard of living, and to accumulate a margin of security against the inevitable vicissitudes of life.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, fireside chat, 1936
If I were a worker in a factory, the first thing I would do would be to join a union.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
The first thing a dictator does is abolish the free press. Next he abolishes the right of labor to go on strike. Strikes have been labor's weapon of progress in the century of our industrial civilization. Where the strike has been abolished ... labor is reduced to a state of medieval peonage, the standard of living lowered, the nation falls to subsistence level.
George Seldes, Freedom of the Press, 1935
The right to join a union of one's choice is unquestioned today and is sanctioned and protected by law.
President Harry S. Truman
Only a fool would try to deprive working men and women of the right to join the union of their choice.
President Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961), general and Allied Supreme Commander in World War II
There's s a direct relationship between the ballot box and the bread box, and what the union fights for and wins at the bargaining table can be taken away in the legislative halls.
Walter Reuther
In light of this fundamental structure of all work... in light of the fact that, labor and capital are indispensable in any social system ... it is clear that even if it is because of production in any social system ... it is clear that even if it is because of their work needs that people unite to secure their rights, their union remains a constructive factor of social order and solidarity, and it is impossible to ignore it.
Pope John Paul II
The history of the labor movements needs to be taught in every school in this land. America is a living testimonial to what free men and women, organized in free democratic trade unions can do to make a better life. ... We ought to be proud of it!
Vice President Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. (1865-1969), Lyndon Johnson Administration
Our labor unions are not narrow, self-seeking groups. They have raised wages, shortened hours, and provided supplemental benefits. Through collective bargaining and grievance procedures, they have brought justice and democracy to the shop floor.
President John F. Kennedy, 1962
The AFL-CIO has done more good for more people than any (other) group in America in its legislative efforts. It doesn't just try to do something about wages and hours for its own people. No group in the country works harder in the interests of everyone.
President Lyndon Johnson, 1965
(Above courtesy of the American Labor Studies Center.)
The EFCA is an attempt to radically overhaul our labor law system in the favor of union organizers. EFCA is a power grab by union bosses who seek to inflate union membership by skewing the careful balance that is designed within our labor law system.
NAM (National Assoc. of Manufacturers) Talking Points against EFCA
Nobody should be surprised that business organizations like the Chamber of Commerce , The National Right to Work Committee and the National Association of Manufacturers are looking out for themselves. The whole purpose of organizing is to build up membership, and thus the funding, to promote their own common welfare.
Labor unions are in business for the same reasons. There have always been labor or trade organizations where workers could gather in order to protect their livelihoods (and, in some cases, their lives.)
In the days before industrialization, there were guilds, alliances and brotherhoods. In every workplace, then and now, employers and employees had relationships that could best be described as contentious. Neither side has ever trusted the other. Every day in every way self-interest reigns supreme.
Often, as is the case with many relationships, the differences become irreconcilable. In the case of workplace irreconcilable differences, management prefers to call that "cause for dismissal" and considers it their duty to put an end to it.
Every now and then, in an all-too-rare but slightly enlightened environment, a stab at "concessions" is made. But even then, going in, it's a pretty safe bet that management will come out ahead 100% of the time.
Even the most labor-supportive of us can understand the reasons behind the statement above. The difference between labor and management--the main, the very ultimate difference--is that management holds all the cards. They don't have to do any of the things labor comes up with. Not unless they're forced to by some ridiculously tight-assed government agency. (Which, luckily for them, they haven't had to confront for ages now.)
Whole cities of people, especially in the South, think they understand the need to keep labor from gaining even an inch. Unbelievably , many of those naysayers and saboteurs are laborers themselves. Somehow they've been convinced that the way to success is to keep management happy at any cost. (It's an odd spectacle when workers cut off their noses to spite their faces. They look really, really foolish.)
Their motto: Never complain, always explain, give hosannas to the highest for your crummy workplace and your measly paycheck. And if you really want to keep management happy, get behind them in every skirmish, whenever unions rear their pushy little heads.
They'll chant, "I hate unions". They'll march against them and connive with management to keep them out. They'll even repeat management's talking points, as if they're their own:
1. Unions make workers lazy. They can get away with murder if there's a union behind them.So I wonder--what is it going to take to convince the un-organized laborers of this country that it isn't the unions that are holding them back. One look at our history shows that we were stronger and healthier as a nation when the unions were stronger and healthier. There is no
2. Unions try to bleed their nice company dry with "demands" for high wages and decent benefits.
3. Unions "demand" safe workplaces. All those regulations cause no amount of grief for the Lords of the Manor.
4. Unions "force" their will upon workers.
5. Unions are evil because, well, because they're UNIONS .
denying that, no matter who does
the denying.This is an argument that has gone on and on and on. I'm always shocked when I see how many workers have bought into the lie that unions will destroy our society. One brief memory of the past couple of decades, one look at the sorry state of employment today should be enough to convince even the harshest critics and the densest of dolts that the Chamber of Commerce, NAM, and every other group or politician who spends considerable amounts of time pretending that unions are evil are not now, and never have been, our BFFs.
Ramona
(cross-posted at Ramona's Voices here)
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Once again, I'd like to know where the non-union laborers think their OSHA standards came from? Did somebody in government wake up one day and wonder what could be done to make the workplace safer? Hahahahahahhahaa. No! Somebody had to die first, somebody had to get crippled or maimed, somebody had to bring the unsafe working conditions into the light first. Unions lit that torch. Unions fought for the little guy.
Those non-union workers that get time and a half for working over 40 hours a week. Did the boss man just pull that little gift out of his ass? Hahahahahahhahahaha. No. Unions fought for that extra pay for extra work.
Oh, yeah, by the way, non-union worker....do you get a little miffed if you're asked to work more than 8 hours a day? You'll get fired if you say no? Well, don't blame the union for your being such a pussy.
You know that piddly ass little bit of useless overpriced health insurance your boss "gives" you? Never would have happened in the first place if a Union hadn't fought for it.
You got a pension plan? Unions fronted that cause, too. Sorry they couldn't do anything about the Wall Street thing that made your pension fund shrivel like a balloon with a slow leak.
Labor Unions raised the standard of living like no other organization ever could or would. I do see their role changing, though. When portable health care becomes reality, they will need to shift their focus into more of a watchdog role. There's always gonna be some boss that wants to cut safety corners to save ten cents.
I mean, it would be great if we all worked for Mr. Fezziwig, but we don't. A lot of us work for Mr. Scrooge before he got the cure.
June 25, 2009 9:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well said, Flowerchild, as usual. And with a lot more Oomph than I gave it! I just don't get the workers who sabotage every union effort in order to maintain their crummy status quo. Makes absolutely no sense--and yet the unions are dying and the Fat Cats get fatter. And the workers get shafted.
June 25, 2009 10:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, yer more ladylike than I am, Ramona. ;o) Different styles, you and I, but we both see eye to eye about the importance of labor unions.
It does get tiresome seeing the ordinary working people get jerked around by management...ticks me off....then I get mad at the workers, too, for letting themselves get shoved around....but, then I understand ya gotta make rent every month somehow, ya gotta do what ya gotta do....and so it goes. Big circle.
June 25, 2009 10:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I get ESPECIALLY mad at the workers. I can't even begin to understand that mentality. Members of both my family and my husband's family spend days, weeks and sometimes months standing in a picket line in order to get a piece of the pie. When my dad was striking or laid off we went to live with aunts and uncles. When THEY were striking or laid off they came to live with us. I went to more schools than I can even remember, but it paid off in the long run. Workers were paid well and they felt good about their jobs. They were producing something that was useful and necessary and their dignity was intact. The union halls were full of cheer-leaders and it was like one big family.
Factory rats in Michigan could afford to live on one paycheck, have homes in good neighborhoods, and even have cottages in the woods and along the lakes. The country prospered because workers made good wages. When only the Fat Cats thrive, all of that goes away and we're left with the kind of economy we're looking at today.
So who won that battle? The jobs go down south or overseas, the rich get richer and we're all one step away from the poorhouse. As I said, cutting off noses to spite faces.
June 26, 2009 9:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
--Bwakfat
I generally don't like tootin' my own horn, but I figure if I get it, everyone does.
June 25, 2009 10:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Toot away. "Because we do the actual work". I love it.
June 26, 2009 9:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh and
Wonderful, as usual, Ramona!
June 25, 2009 10:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you.
June 26, 2009 9:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
There was a poll, (I can't find it), done a year or more ago wherein the respondents were asked if they thought they were in the upper 25% of income groups in the US. Something like 45% of the statistical sample answered that they thought they were in that upper quadrile. There was another one, which I again paraphrase, because I can't find it either. In it something like 25% of the respondents earning under $20K/year did not consider themselves to be 'lower class'. I think that there is a lot of confusion regarding our perception of our own socioeconomic class. It may be one of the tricks played on the working and middle classes in the past 50 years to convince us that we're better off than we in fact are. That would go a long way toward stifling labor organization in and of itself. With the shift from manufacturing to service just require the worker to wear a suit and tie to work, pay him/her a fixed salary as opposed to an hourly wage with overtime scales, etc. and what was your blue collar labor force is under the impression that they've somehow stepped up in the world. Suddenly, they identify with the class above them, and feel it a betrayal to support organized labor. Just a thought. Good post Ramona.
June 26, 2009 1:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Brilliant, but what can one expect from such a snappy dresser! Specifically, the part about suits and tie, or dresses. As one who worked in insurance, I was amazed at how the seemingly intelligent people would be so opposed to getting organized. They're slaves in a tiny little cubicle, but there's air conditioning, so they think they have something. It's ridiculous.
Management is organized. Why not labor? I always hear about how unions destroyed companies, but I never hear which companies those were. And it seems there is always some other reason for tht company's demise to consider.
Unions need to return to the call, "Workers of the World Unite." Until we can raise the wages of the Chinese and India and others in the 3rd world, unions will lose.because they cannot compete on price.
June 26, 2009 1:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Miguelito, I KNOW those people you're talking about! Call them "salaried" and all of a sudden they've switched sides. Never mind that the overtime is gone but the long hours aren't. They're not "hourly". That's what counts. And now they're against the unions because the unions got their members overtime!!
June 26, 2009 6:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Again, change does NOT COME FROM THE TOP. Great leaders can only shape and mold with the power from the people.
Unions used to mean something. Reagan fires some air plane directors and...wow...a victory for freedom. geeeeez
Great post Ramona
June 26, 2009 2:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, dickday, Now the problem is--how do we build up unions again? Because I don't see how we can build up the middle class again without the kind of worker protection unions can provide.
June 26, 2009 9:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
Government cannot solve this problem alone.
Remember when Unions scared the living hell out of management. And nonunion manufacturers were so scared of unionization, well they kept THEIR SALARIES palatable and made sure their workers were happy.
This has a lot to do with the new corporate structure in this country where 'shareholders' are only mutual funds or ponzi schemes or whatever...
Control is handed to the corporate shareholders, no rein on the management whatsoever, regulators waiting in the wings to finish their terms and move right into the lying theiving ranks of those they are supposed to regulate.
Government CAN OPEN THE DOOR to real change. Make examples of the greedy.......
Really happy about this post Ramona...
June 26, 2009 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Remember that big business has done a fantastic job of dividing labor for about 4 decades, non-union labor does not see the need for a union.
"Power of Pride", "An Army of One" have convinced the workers that they can "make" it themselves. (even though it is proven not so every payday)
Divide and conquer is a winning strategy that has worked for centuries, and is working now.
As an organizer I deal with this every day, even IF I can get a worker to do the math on his "retirement" he still won't agree he is screwed.
perception of unions has a lot to do with it. and lets face it, we have not done a good job improving on that. Also most union workers still think they are in some "country club" and are unwilling to accept "new" members.
there are many more reasons unions are struggling and the biggest one is lack of leadership.
my biggest fear is that we are going to miss out on the greatest opportunity to improve workers lives and piss it away because we can't get our shit together.
Unions are "workers for workers" never forget that
June 26, 2009 7:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks so much, Chrisrick, for your insight. This is a discussion that needs to go on. What can the unions do to change the minds of the intractable? You're right that there is the "divide and conquer" mentality and Big Business has made it an art form.
As an organizer, can you please give us some insight into the reasons for the fall of the unions? We see Walter Reuther and the early organizers as the Wise Ones, but they had their problems, too. The problem, it seems to me, is that people are so quick to blame the union leadership for everything without recognizing the largely uphill battles they've had to fight for so long.
Nobody fights as dirty as Big Business. They have the most to lose and they don't like being losers. The divide between incomes of the laborers and the owner/managers has increased a thousand-fold over the years and still the focus is on the unions and what they've done wrong. How do you fight against the money people? Their money buys them enormous, unfair power.
This quote from Walter Reuther says it all. He knew what he was up against but he gave it everything he had. The early union organizers' efforts changed America for decades and gave us a thriving middle class. Now it's gone.
Walter ReutherJune 26, 2009 9:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
hi, Ramona--
great post, again.
I do get tired of seeing the ordinary working people get jerked around by management. And I REALLY get sick when I see the people doing the labor putting that choke-collar on themselves.
Divide and conquer is such an age-old strategy, you'd think we'd wise up. But we never seem to.
June 26, 2009 11:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hi Icetree, it's such a mystery to me why the old "divide and conquer" still works. What have those people actually gained by being so subservient? The jobs are still going out of the country or have been downsized to such a degree those who are still working are doing two jobs instead of one for half the money they should be making.
That's progress?!?
June 26, 2009 6:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe the unions need to share their history. No one else is going to do it. Unions need to remind people of how exactly they changed this country. The companies with unions need to be revealed and held up for scrutiny, because many of them are doing very well. UPS is my favorite example.
Consider this, unions saved GM and Chrysler, not the other way around. If labor was not organized and willing to compromise as needed, the auto industry would have just folded. The voice in Washington would not have been sufficient to attract assistance from the government were it not for the UAW.
Unions have eased the situation of those who lost jobs so that they are less of a burden on society then they might have been, going directly to unemployment. One might say they privitized unemployment benefits rather then leaving them on the government's/the public's doorstep. Unions take care of their own, they just need to have more of their own.
Foreign automakers entered the South because politicians invited them. The government provided incentives unlike any given to domestic automakers. The plan was to build these non-union companies so the union companies would deteriorate, making possible cheaper domestic labor. So why do those rednecks fight for lower pay? Because they really never heard what unions have already done for labor. Rather they only know these fictional anecdotes about how organized labor ruins a company without knwoing the successful companies with unions that can refute this false allegation. Unions need to tell their story. No one else will.
Great post, Ramona.
June 26, 2009 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
fwiw-- there are documentaries on NGC, PBS and both History Channels every so often.
if only someone would put up the funding so that these things were shown in high schools and colleges so that more people than just those who are already interested in the subject would be exposed to them.
too many kids grow up completely ignorant of how working conditions used to be. they're then easy prey for the propaganda machines against the unions.
June 28, 2009 10:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Things are different today. Both government and big business are working together against labor. When the unions made advances 75 or eighty years ago it wasn't quite as onesided as it is today. In fact government and big business had a far more adversarial relationship back then.
June 26, 2009 3:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Those were the good old days!
June 26, 2009 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Aha, you're on to something here. There was a time when government actually saw the need to protect the proletariat from the Greedy BB Bastards. Now we're on our own--so all we can do is take it to the streets, the internet, the airwaves, and shout, shout, shout.
I can't HEAR you! (not "you" specifically, but "you" and me and everyone else who cares about this)
June 26, 2009 6:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
There are huge problems in all of this. The U.S. has transformed itself in some very fundamental ways over the period I refer to. These changes won't be easily undone because it implies altering the power structure that has evolved.
Frankly, the pressure already applied seems not to have made much of a dent. Dislodging the entrenched conservatism that has taken hold of both government and the private sector, which have joined forces, is a real barrier. I really think it'll take a serious social upheaval to change this.
Reagan and both Bushs transgressed a line that previously had never been crossed. Democrats have been reluctant to cross that line. Obama, given the seriousness of the financial collapse, could have conceivably invoked executive powers to address this but was reluctant to do so. That it needed to happen, I think, is elementary. There is still the spectre of this looming in the distance. Who is in power and eventually takes this leap will have everything to do with our future. It's guaranteed that democratic and republican remedies will look very different and provide completely different outcomes.
Who will pull the trigger is all that remains to be seen. I think it a virtual certainty, that because the balance of political and financial power has gotten so screwed up, we won't go two decades, maybe sooner, before the shit hits the fan.
June 27, 2009 6:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
All of my old union buddies & family that are still in or retired are doing pretty darn well. I quit to start my own business, & I've done well too, but never considered going union with it. Looking back I see that the negatives I focused on were definetly evened out by the wages & benefits over time. I just had a problem with authority & the repitition.
June 26, 2009 6:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
The union dilemma is not whether representation of workers' rights are required. The rights need to be assessed and recognized. It is whether an organization is capable of doing so without becoming another special interest group which represents its members interests or a tool for political purposes.
Unions soliciting legislation for card check is not a way to convince people to join. In fact, it has ominous portent. Unfortunately, unions are not unlike other organizations in some are good and some are not so good. This is a corruption and power dilemma.
Point of fact, the power can overwhelm both nation and business as displayed by the union strikes by the European railroad unions. They effectively strangled movement in Europe for a week at a time. The point is not whether a valid grievance existed, but the exercise of sheer power which extended beyond any single national law or boundary. This incidentally occurred in the eighties and before the EU existed. For a special interest group to wield power to that extent is frightening. Many union are decent and sincere you can ask union members which ones are preferred and which are not.
June 26, 2009 9:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting that you would comment only on the power of the unions--which is nothing compared to the power of Big Business, a much more frightening entity that seeks to control the interests of the entire country, and does it so effectively they now control everything, including the government.
In other words, that argument is bullshit.
June 27, 2009 9:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
I was making an observation that unions have become a special interest group, or lobbyists, if you prefer. They have become big business. They have become something which does not always represent the workers interest, but the leaderships' interest. Additionally, they sought to bring down governments and institutions in some cases. The point was power and corruption and the example was relevant to the topic.
You did not address the point that union members themselves are capable of identifying the quality unions. Some even select both occupation and regional location to benefit from the ones who remember the workers are there primary concern.
Please, dispute that issue.
June 27, 2009 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
great conversation going on here, lets continue.
Absolutely there is a relationship between the ballot box and the bread box but we are looking at in the wrong way.
Currently we are electing our Reps in hopes that they do the right thing when they get into office.
In the past labor forced the politicians to do the right thing. Mass demonstrations, letters and, pressure got things done. the govt had no choice but to listen when the people spoke.
Today we are divided, no one listens.
What lead to the downfall in Unions? there are many, many reasons why;
Government, Big Business and failed Union leadership all play a part.
Never fear though when the American people become so uncomfortable the will rise. Hopefully this is the time to stand together and make things happen.
I truly believe that both Govt and Corporate interests are mortified of solidarity for they understand the power workers could have over them when we act in concert. It is the same power they have now.
Unions are "workers for workers" Never EVER forget that.
June 27, 2009 9:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Chrisrick, I would love to keep this discussion going. Unfortunately, when it's no longer on the TPM front pages, it's pretty much gone. This kind of discussion needs to be on-going. It isn't just a puny few who support unions--it's the majority.
I appreciate what you have to say. Especially that Unions are "workers for workers". That seems to have been forgotten by way too many--including workers.
June 27, 2009 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink