Look For the Union Label

Labor unions are under attack from every side.  They've been blamed for everything from the economic recession to global warming. I know people who think business should be able to operate unfettered by laws, that corporations will police themselves and the market will take care of the rest. I call these people crazy and uneducated.  Most people these days also hate public sector labor unions  because of what they perceive as unfair pensions and job security. I also have a name for these people, ignorant.

I, of course, have a bias. I belong to a union, my parents both belonged to unions and My Girl was arbitrarily dismissed from a job over some gossip precisely because she had no protections. My mother walked the picket line for six weeks back in the early seventies when teachers were paid less than locksmiths working for Los Angeles Unified School District.  That labor action changed everything for teachers in this state. Teachers had a fighting chance to make a living wage. Because of that strike teachers today are better compensated and have a voice in decision making.

Anyone who thinks that business will take care of its employees with pressure from market factors is out of their mind, plain and simple. A business cares about its bottom line and stockholders that's it.  It doesn't care about individual employees and never has.  Why do you think labor unions were formed in the first place? Even if you don't belong to a union you have them to thank for the 40 hour work week, for eliminating child labor in this country, and for demanding safe workplaces.  They are responsible for holding business and government accountable for working conditions. They protect members from being fired on a whim without cause and pressure government to enact labor laws for non-union employees.

Without labor unions, our manufacturing plants would look like India or China where workers labor for pennies under unsafe conditions for long hours. We would have children at work rather than at school.  Why do you think corporations took their manufacturing overseas? They can get cheap labor and no one demands they pay a living wage or provide safe working conditions.

The media has exposed inequities in the public employee pension system but remember these people SERVED the public for many years at salaries not commensurate with private industry. They contributed to their pensions and many also contributed, as I do, to mutual funds similar to a 401K. Only a very few draw huge pensions from one or more funds and I can't condone that. On the other hand  I'm also not a fan of huge payouts to CEO's or health care and a huge pension for life if one serves one measly term as a state or federal representative.

So if you have paid vacation (I don't by the way), a 40 hour work week, and a safe workplace you can thank those brave laborers of the early 20th century who fought for the workers' right to organize and strike if necessary. Those among you who applaud the erosion of labor's power and the destruction of unions will eventually suffer the consequences as big business will no doubt turn back the clock on workers' rights.