Why labor unions matter to all workers, unionized or not.

[iconoclastNYC]

From "Hostile Takeover - How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government - And How We Take It Back" by David Sirota:

Why should you, an ordinary American, care about Labor Unions? Why are union rights as important to a discussion of pocketbook issues as any other issue? Because unless you are a super-wealthy fat cat, the existence of unions is integral to your economic well-being--whether you are in a union or not. For union members themselves, the benefits of unions couldn't be more stark. "By every available measure, union members are better-clothed, better-fed, better-paid and better house than nonunion workers with comparable jobs," notes University of Alabama Professor Glenn Feldman. "They enjoy better and fuller access to health care and prescription drugs. They have safer and more dignified workplaces and a great deal more recourse when employers violate the most basic standards of justice and equity."

Want a real-life example of what those union benefits really mean? Just look at he Enron debacle. Though you didn't hear about it in the traditionally anti-union media, one of the big stories coming out of the scandal was about the power of unions to protect workers. While thousands of nonunion workers saw their pensions decimated by politically connected corporate rip-off artists, those who were in a union survived. As AFL-CIO president John Sweeney noted in 2002, "Some 1,000 employees of Enron subsidiaries who are members of the Sheet Metal Workers didn't lose a dime in pension dollars because they were protected" by contract guarantees they had secured from their employers through their union.

But what about nonunion members? Why should you care about union issues if you aren't in a union? Because unions help all workers. Don't believe it? Next time you enjoy a night at home with your family or a relaxing weekend, remember - it was the union movement that helped end the system that forced people to work twelve hour days, seven days a week for almost no pay. And that's not all, as Feldman points out. " A majority of the MBA students I have taught can enumerate with childlike glee the Christmas list of goodies that awaits them once they go out and take a real job," he wrote. They get "Sick pay, overtime pay, vacation pay, health insurance, disability insurance, good wages, safety standards, pension benefits, prescription drug coverage, and more--without ever once realizing that it is unions to whom they owe a massive thank-you for setting the industrial standard."

Those benefits, however, are being eliminated as Big Business and politicians persecute unions, and do everything they can to keep the public in the dark about benefits unions offer. Corporate American and its allies in Congress have spent the last few decades spreading all sorts of lies about unions to make people forget about the labor movement's positive effect on America's past and present. The ultimate goal is to make the public see unions as monolithic monsters instead of what they really are: just a collection of ordinary workers banding together to protect their basic common rights.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307237346/002-8524181-1939252?v=glance&n=283155

[BayCityProgressive]

1. I am so grateful to be a CWA member.

[bigbrother05]

2. The chance to weaken unions in the gov't

was the only reason the Bushbots agreed to create Homeland Security. They resisted as long as they could, then grabbed it to push through a plan that eliminated not only collective bargaining rights, but the entire merit system structure that was started in the federal government after Garfield was assassinated by a disgruntled office seeker under the old spoils system.

They never do anything that doesn't serve their corporatist's agenda.

[Omaha Steve]

3. I was fired in 1980 for organizing for the GAU

Four years latter the St. Louis Court of Appeals upheld the NLRB decision I was fired illegally. Today that process takes 7-8 years or more. I am now a member of AFSCME. My wife was CWA for 18 years before she took a buyout. The GAU merged and became the GAIU. The GAIU is now Teamsters I've been told.

My case info is online: http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:8Lzmr3jH_yEJ:www.nlrb.gov/nlrb/shared_files/decisions/261/261-38.pdf+nlrb+dawes&hl=en

[Omaha Steve]

4. Thank you for posting this

Could you post this on the union board too?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=367

[Doremus]

5. Thank you. So many normally-sane people are completely irrational when

discussing unions.

I had a long exchange with a liberal poster on another board who is VEHEMENTLY anti-union. No facts or figures to back up his warped opinions, just a bad personal experience.

Several others joined in, equally disdainful of organized labor.

They have no appreciation for the benefits they've received because of the courage of others. None. They're happy with their lot in life (as pitiful as it might be) and think everyone else should follow suit. "Unions cause inflation; It's no wonder jobs are going offshore, nobody can afford union scale; Union leaders are all crooks on a power trip; yadda yadda yadda."

It's enough to make me vomit.

When will the stupid people GO AWAY??? Arggggghhhh.

[Selatius]

7. Unions are good with respect to abusive employers

The bad rap is taken from a small modicum of truth made into a giant mountain by the corporate news media. Are traditionally structured labor unions perfect? I wouldn't say so, since they often suffer the same problem of entrenched management and policymakers who may make decisions that are not in the best interests of his constituents that you often see with governments and corporations. Some union bosses, to be frank, have been very corrupt, and I wouldn't doubt that there are still crooked bosses around. A union led by crooked bosses is almost as bad as having no union with respect to the workers having a voice, as the bosses can be bought out.

However, I'm in favor of unionizing. The only caveat is that I favor unions where the base has been given a mechanism (or several) to check the actions of the leadership much more directly and, if need be, override the leadership completely. I'm in favor of unions that aren't afraid of democracy in the workplace.

[SharonAnn]

6. Every time our union got a raise or new benefit, so did I. Didn't take

me long to figure this out.

I was a professional, and salaried, but I learned that all our benefits were built on the "union" contract. I always felt bad that I benefited even though I wasn't a union member. But I've never forgotten what I received as a result of their work.

While in that job, I had an assignment to work with the union shipping department for major projects. No one else could successfully work with them. I rarely had a problem working with them. I just called them, asked who I should work with to coordinate things, met with that person and we worked out how to handle things. I made sure that my people didn't do any of the "union tasks" and that we treated them as members of our team who were all trying to serve the customer. We had very few problems and the union would let us "bend the rules" once in a while when it seemed necessary.

The foreman/steward told me when I was leaving that I was the only manager they'd worked with whom they trusted.