State Of The Union

My father was a hardcore union man his entire adult working life. He believed in the union and what it represented for the working man and of the middle class families it helped to create, in particular the middle class African-American families. He knew of the days when workers had horrible working conditions, got paid extremely low wages and were told to be grateful that at least they had a job. Because of this, he favored the advantages afforded in having union representation in negotiations with business owners. Most people don’t realize the majority of rights and benefits workers are offered today are because of the hard work unions put in decades ago. Because of organized labor my father and mother were able to earn a decent living wage and provide medical and dental benefits for our entire family as well as pension plans for their senior years through their respective unions. There was nothing radical about my father’s ideas, because of his union he expected to be treated with respect and dignity, in fact it’s where I got my “I don’t have to take shit from you” attitude about employers. I watched both of my parents get up and go to work each and every day and quite simply they both felt that hard honest work should be rewarded and they passed this work ethic on to me and my sisters.

Recently Republican lawmakers in Michigan quietly passed legislation through a lame-duck session and Michigan became a “right to work state”, or as President Obama called it “right to work for less”. The legislation states that workers are no longer required to join a union and pay dues and fees to it in order to get or keep a job. Michigan legislators say their intent is to give workers more choice and support economic growth, but the real intent is to weaken organized labor by encouraging workers to freeload by withholding money unions need to bargain effectively. These freeloaders pay no dues but still reap the benefits of collective bargaining. It’s amazing how effective Republicans are in brainwashing the middle class. Equally amazing is how middle class workers are unable to see right through these liars and continually vote against their best interest. Theses conservative politicians convince the public that all the economic problems in Michigan are the union's fault, as if all the crappy products the auto industry was producing were decisions of the union management, all the while knowing their main goal is to take away workers’ rights. Bankrupting unions prevents union influence during elections but big business and political PACs like those funded by the billionaire Koch Brothers can spend all they want all of which helps the GOP at election time.

The fact is that without unions, workers are subject to the whims and decisions of bad managers. Wages have dropped, benefits are disappearing, and workers are being exploited and abused…just take a look at Wal-Mart. This union busting is about businesses making bigger profits by paying workers less. Their profits go up while workers’ paychecks go down. Sure there will be more jobs because like Wal-Mart they cut hours, pay minimum wage and are able to get two workers for the price of one. The Republicans call workers making $20 an hour greedy yet they call billionaires who want more profits on the backs of their workers and less taxes successful. Unions have fought long and hard for things such as fair wages and safe working conditions yet Republicans say union workers are wrong because they want these things. What should happen is that when a union bargains and achieves higher wages and increased benefits it should only go to union members. Those who want to save a few measly bucks a month in union dues should be left to bargain on their own.

Worker issues have changed over the years, but workers still need an organization to stand up for their rights, wages and working conditions. It is very easy to forget that unions protect the labor force at large by forcing employers to follow work place rules and regulations and play a critical role in maintaining a middle class in this country. The absence of unions will allow corporations to again take advantage of workers and we'll revert back to the pre-union days. It's happening in countries like China by American corporations, so why wouldn’t it happen here as well?