Katie Deegan

Ensuring Freedom by Preserving the Values of Trade Unions

Thoughtful committed citizens are the only thing that have ever changed the world.
                                                                                                                  —Margaret Mead

Anti-union sentiment is increasingly pervading American culture. In fact, one critic says, “The United States in now on the verge of a risky experiment: to become the first parliamentary democracy in modern world history without a substantial trade union movement” (Lichtenstein 66). In addition to weakening bargaining power, the judicial system allows workers to resign in the midst of a strike and scab on coworkers. A huge
number of professionals and supervisors were even deemed exempt from representation (Lichtenstein 66). Legislation and corporate wealth are eroding the power of organized labor and thereby obfuscating workplace democracy; extinguishing employee rights; eroding the living standards of working, working- poor, and middle class Americans; muting the voice of minorities; retarding environmental improvements; increasing corporate domination of politics; and auguring exploitation of workers throughout the world. However, a significant portion of freedoms, to which Americans have become accustomed, would be greatly diminished or non-existent without the social values that are embodied by organized labor.

Evidence suggests that employers seldom behave democratically without the mandate of a higher authority such as the government or a union. It is no wonder that workplace dictatorships are becoming a widespread phenomenon as government regulations fail to adequately protect workers but enhance the power of employers: “Fear of being fired, downsized, laid off, of not making pension time, poverty in a new economy, of part-time and insecure, low-paid jobs, and iron discipline breed a tyrannical workplace” (Wells 33). The power of employers is increasing due to the growing wage inequality, more opportunities for them to relocate where they can find cheap labor, and a popular perception that they can and will relocate (Wells 34). This relationship of employers to employees appears to be no better than a lord’s to a vassal, a king’s to a subject, or even a master’s to a slave. Employees who depend on management for survival, meanwhile, are subject to speedups, lower wages, contracting-out, and a host of other concessions (Wells 34). Unorganized labor positions workers at the mercy of their employers and thereby transforms democracy into a seemingly unattainable, abstract dream.

Arch Puddington, former director for the League of Industrial Democracy, illuminates the flawed arguments of contemporary society. He believes that unions are becoming superfluous with the advent of government rules that encompass safety, health, and sexual harassment. Yet, he assumes that federal regulations are enforced. The garment workers of Lion Apparel in Beattyville, Kentucky, understand that government rules against employer tyranny are not enforced. Formaldehyde fumes, “wages so low that workers are unable to meet basic needs, dangerous working conditions, and intimidation when workers try to unionize are characteristic of their working environment” (Boal 8). Thirty-two Occupational Safety Health Association (OSHA) violations within 12 years, lack of air conditioning, frozen toilets, and declining employee health are additional fringe benefits (Boal 8).

The manifestation of American sweatshops, such as that described above, illustrates the potential for exploitation in an era in which the government is slanted in favor of corporations. Reforming the social structure, however, is an uphill struggle:

Furthermore, investigations prove that the U.S. government helps perpetuate worker abuse through actions that include providing Lion Apparel with its biggest contract and awarding them for saving government money. Mother Jones reported that former Vice President Gore honored the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) of the Defense Department with the highest honor his office can bestow — 51 Hammer Awards. The vicepresident considered the Defense Department successful for saving 4.5 million government dollars.

Employee power and a sense of community within the workplace are promoted through direct democracy, specifically within small local unions, and representative democracy, particularly among large, dispersed unions. Trade unions offer a solution to employee powerlessness which has sprung out of the failures of government regulations: “A strong and vibrant labor movement is critical to the well-being of its populace” (Mantsois xvii). Equality of representation via one voice / one vote, the right to participate in decision-making, access to decision-making, and an opportunity to express the views of a minority through debate and caucuses lay the foundation for a healthy workplace community (Mantsois 13). It is naive to believe that fairness will ever exist in its purest form. Unions, nevertheless, help to limit workplace injustice by acting as a corporate and governmental watchdog.

Why would corporations spend up to 500 dollars per union-busting class if workers did not feel the need to organize? Unions prompt the enforcement of federal regulations by urging locals to evaluate job-related problems, to discuss the issues at union functions, and to inundate corporations with official union disapproval of violations in any form (Mantsois 21). Dependency on professional government expertise such as courts, panels, and government agencies creates a centralization of power by taking matters out of the hands of persons
who are directly involved. Unions operate on a more local level with a significantly smaller bureaucracy than the federal government. It is simply not possible for the federal bureaucracy to regulate millions of workplaces successfully.

Unions provide workers with a voice to ensure more consistent regulation. For example, OSHA inspections failed to prevent a fire that killed 25 unorganized workers in North Carolina (Philips - Fein 63). Unions’ grievance procedures, policies, and contracts help to assure that employers adhere to federal regulations and provide an opportunity to report violations, harassment, discrimination, and to prevent workplace tragedies. Moreover, federal regulations would not exist without trade unions. Organized labor strived for an end to child labor as well as for the forty-hour week, vacation time, sick leave, worker compensation, and holiday and overtime pay. Unions now need to demand tightly enforced standards in the wake of a transforming economy.

A more egalitarian society can only prevail if the exponentially growing abyss between the rich and the poor is reduced. Achievements of trade unions include greater economic equality, thereby promoting a more democratic society. The struggle to improve workers’ standard of living by paying workers fairly poses a threat to corporate interests. According to Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson, increasing worker productivity, as opposed to trade union regulation, is the best way to raise wages (152). Productivity can be achieved through a multitude of methods: by an increase in the machines in which the workers are aided, by new inventions and improvements, by more efficient management on the part of employers, by more industrious and efficiency on the part of the workers, and by better education and training (Hazlitt 142).

Wages, nevertheless, have failed to increase even though Americans are among the most productive workers in the world. Reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics clarify that real compensation, defined as wages plus benefits, has actually been decreasing: “By the end of 1996 a family of four in the median bracket had income 3 percent below that of a similar family in 1989, and just 1.6 percent above that of such a family in 1973” (Cockburn 9). Moreover, families commonly work two, three, or even four jobs. The decrease in real compensation coincides with union membership declines from 30-50% to 15% nationwide. Henry Hazlitt’s theory that unions do not in the long run increase real wages has been dispelled by economic data and most recently by Helene J. Jorgensen’s statistical analyses. The economist assumes that wages are determined solely by the market, failing to recognize that collective bargaining influences wages. Moreover, Hazlitt argues that increased wages will detract from profits and thereby increase consumer prices. However, it is possible to maintain corporate profits by lowering CEO and other executive salaries without raising consumer prices. Labor unions are essential to the battle against the wage freeze because they vie for a sharing of wealth. Greater economic equality would elevate the morale of employees as well as bridge the divisions among social classes.

A pro-corporate social structure does not bode well for average Americans who have not experienced a rise in real income over the past three decades (that is, when the federal government began reducing union power). Economic growth, measured according to success on Wall Street, scarcely matters to the 75% of the population who do not own stocks. Unions, however, were able to help their members. A study of the years 1984 through 1994 indicates that unions have substantially maintained their wage advantage because they better withstood the pressure for concession during periods of economic expansion. They were also able to regain some of their previous wage losses during periods of stagnating wages for union and non-union real wages (Jorgenson 267).

Unions are seeking to help temporary workers who typically work full time but receive part time or no benefits. Temporary workers -- the fastest growing segment of America’s work
force -- are sometimes “paid slightly above minimum wage, receive no benefits from the firm, and are formally employees of temporary help agencies” (Smith 414). They commonly work at one place of employment for several months and then must migrate. The standard of living for workers will only decrease as permanent employees are replaced by temporaries. In addition to higher wages and relatively permanent placement, unions provide medical and dental insurance. Access to a doctor and dentist, the ability to buy groceries, and job security more accurately reflect the economic concerns of Americans. The failure to establish federal health coverage and more than 200,000 uninsured Americans suggest that health care would be accessible only to the wealthy if trade unions did not exist.

The scope of unions’ social benefits expands beyond health insurance. Overseas human rights abuses, corporate management, domestic discrimination, and environmental violations will be challenged by the economic power of union pensions. Trade unions wield the power to embarrass executives and to make proposals that can win a majority of stockholders -- especially within the big employer pension funds that threaten the power and perks of top executives (Organizing a New Politics 20). During a bitter strike in 1997 between Wheeling - Pittsburgh Steel Corporation:

Multi-employer plans, consisting of approximately $330 billion in pensions split between management and employees, are steadily pursuing labor-related issues. In spite of pension problems, such as size and tensions among fund beneficiaries, unions are improving society by holding corporations more accountable for their actions. Unionized pension holders are inclined to invest in projects that employ unionized workers, which thereby encourages the unorganized to organize. For example, the unionization of Marriott employees is attributable to union pension power.

Campaign financing, without union donations, would almost exclusively promote corporate interests. Government subsidies with few strings attached are the products of intensive lobbying and corporate contributions that surpass those of trade unions by eleven times. Corporate welfare, mainly in the form of tax subsidies that “tend to average 100 thousand dollars,” swells corporate profits but cripples residents of local cities and towns (LeRoy 28). Campaign donations from trade unions force politicians, with threats of money and votes, to acknowledge the needs of average Americans and to examine the consequences of corporate greed. It is not surprising that corporations try to undermine campaign donations made by unions (Birnbaum 36). The corporate desire to monopolize politicians is exemplified by the recent proposal, the Paycheck Protection Act, that would undermine unions’ political power. This legislation was defeated and unions continue to actively represent average Americans in politics.

Advertising in lawmakers’ districts, training local union officers to become political activists, and focusing on grassroots political organizations are sources of representation and participation of workers within the political arena. Goals of organized labor include the shift from partisan-based to issues-based politics: “Labor unions agree that political involvement is not about being a lap dog for a party, it is about being a watchdog for our members’ interests” (Organizing a New Politics 19). John Sweeney, the AFL- CIO president, is presently advocating for a clean-money campaign reform to ban soft money, unregulated campaign contributions (Organizing a New Politics 19). Campaign financing reform would
level the political playing field, restore dignity to politics, and enable unions to focus on issues which exceed the importance of political financing. Opposition to the proposed legislation highlights the strength of the almighty dollar and the weakness of democracy.

In addition to the need for campaign reform, racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination is a bleak aspect of American society. Trade unions represent a coalition whose goals include a more just society.

In this era of renewed and escalating racism and anti-immigrant hysteria, unions must be out ahead in building multiracial unity and defending immigrant rights (Mantsois 186). Statistics serve as a reminder that women continue to earn only 73.8% of men’s earnings, men of color earn significantly less than white men, and women of color earn less than all other workers. Discrimination accounts for more of the wage gap, a discrepancy that is vastly minimized by unionization, than do differences in education, experience, or time in the work force (Judy et al. 81+). In addition, “women, people of color, and immigrants comprise the vast majority of new workers, and studies of union elections reflect that these same people are more likely to join unions than other workers” (Mantsois 186). Social progress is surely being achieved as white male dominance of labor unions fades into history. Employee representation provides a layer of protection from workplace discrimination in addition to promoting employer adherence to controversial federal programs such as affirmative action.

“In an era of rising racial tension and polarization, the labor movement is one of the few social forces with the capacity to advance . . . progressive social change” (Mantsois 201). Federal regulations simply fail to eliminate biased hiring practices or prevent harassment after employment. Labor unions form a social movement, as recent actions demonstrate, to reduce discrimination. Constituency groups, such as the Labor Council for Latin America Advancement (LCLAA), help bridge gaps between trade unions and neglected communities. The 1985 election of ten people of color to AFL-CIO leadership positions also represent the empowerment of the new work force both on the job and in community.

Organized labor, as a social movement, has been active in shielding the environment from abuse that results from the never-ending quest to increase the bottom line. Alliances between workers and environmentalists threaten industries such as clear-cut logging which generate profits while ruining forests. Chlorine compounds may process pulp cheaply, but they simultaneously pollute the environment and threaten the health of employees and local residents. Workers have recognized that the job versus the environment dichotomy is false. Canada has set the standard with their adoption of guidelines for settling conflicts that arise between trade unions and environmentalists: “The Council of Canadians have seen unions, environmentalists, students, church and poverty groups working together for a common cause” (Burrows 22). This has included opposition to the original Canadian - U. S. Free Trade Agreement and the current Multilateral Agreement on Investment. Strategic parallel campaigning by unions and environmentalists occurs when each group addresses issues with the company in order to resolve conflicting interests (Burrows 25). These alliances improve the well-being of local communities, workers, and the planet.

Better information-sharing between environmentalists and union members has instigated dialogue and improved education about pollution, health, and nature. Mr. Holmes, an environmentalist, believes that an “alliance between unionists and environmentalists scares the hell out of industry and mainstream media who like to perpetuate the job versus environment attitude” (Burrows 22). Clean air and water, healthier food, and safer working conditions are the goals of this new social alliance.

As the above paragraph suggests, the most current issues for labor to contend with extend beyond the confines of the United States. Outsourcing, the exploitation of foreign workers, has led to the demand for overseas unionization in under-developed countries. Supporters of transnational unionism want to dispel the fantasy about an aristocracy of well-paid skilled workers whose jobs are protected at theexpense of sweat labor around the world (Wells 34). Mexico recently formed a national labor union of 1.5 million workers (Wells 38). Corporations will now be forced to reconsider the treatment of foreign workers and to evaluate whether or not outsourcing will prove to be profitable. The International Federation of Global Trade Unions (IFGTU), the largest federation of global trade unions, promotes world-wide social justice through propositions which contain a labor clause to NAFTA (Wells 39). Transnational unionization threatens the trend of outsourcing, decreases the opportunity to exploit foreign workers, and challenges the anarchic abuses of deregulation.

Global campaigns, meanwhile, have been borrowing tactics from unions as international workers attempt to organize. Activists have been partially successful in pressuring companies to pay workers at regular intervals, preventing child labor and unsafe working conditions, and persuading suppliers to pay minimum wage instead of the so-called living wage. “GAP, Levi Strauss, Reebok, Wal-Mart, Sears Roebuck, Home Depot, Timberland, J.C. Penney, Nike, Liz Claiborne, Starbucks, and Van Huesen” have agreed to standards set forth by international organizations (Wells 34). Yet, evidence suggests that these standards could be better monitored and enforced if mechanisms, such as labor unions, were uniformly established throughout the world. International organizations portray the idealist aspect of unions without representing the practical aspects. Federally imposed obstacles to unions serve as reminders that ideals need to interact with tangible means of implementation. Trade unions definitely are not immune from corruption. Humans do not possess the ability to construct a perfect organization or to create a utopia by joining a union. A world of rampant injustice, however, is improved by the social values of unions. Do human rights, democracy,
economic prosperity, and political influence represent values for which we should strive? Americans must fulfill Margaret Mead’s proclamation about social change by challenging antiunion propaganda and legislation. Mead’s message rings true; thoughtful committed citizens are the only thing that have ever changed the world.

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