The Coming Demise of American Labor

Labor unions have been one of the most instrumental forces for progress and economic justice in America since they first came to fruition in the mid-19th century. Since then, labor unions - often to the chagrin of the press, the corporations, and the political establishment - have put their muscle behind countless reforms that we now take for granted.

The eight-hour workday, bans on child labor, worker safety regulations, bargaining rights with an employer, improved access to healthcare, the minimum wage, overtime pay, Clinton's Family and Medical Leave Act, housing and childcare support, the legal right to sue, inflationary currency, and the progressive income tax were all hard-fought battles that courageous unions managed to win. It is redundant to say that labor unions are the only organizations standing between economic justice and corporate exploitation of the working class in the name of "globalization."

Though some unions have unfortunately been influenced by the Mafia, the vast majority are honest, accountable organizations that stand above all for the worker's right to a decent living. Governments are notoriously flat-footed and reluctant to change the status quo; it is simply not in the interests of elected officials to advocate change on behalf of the least among us. Labor unions, therefore, are crucial in filling that voiding by providing a potent medium for average citizens to voice their concerns, challenge corporate chicanery and malfeasance, and fight for their economic interest.

And yet not all is well in the labor department. Since the unionbusting "reforms" of the oh-so-saintly Ronald Reagan, union membership has declined in the private sector from 25% in 1980 to only 9% in 2003. Predictably, real wages for workers have actually declined during that same period of much-touted prosperity - prosperity, that is, for those whom unions are petty annoyances standing in the way of their stock options, for people who actually benefited from the Bush tax cuts.

Here is a telling excerpt from Christopher's influential article in In These Times, a progressive labor-oriented publication:

Here’s something to consider: It’s a concrete possibility we will wake up one morning and there won’t be a single American labor union left. For 30 straight years, American organized labor has been hemorrhaging members, power and influence.[Fifty years ago, 35 percent of workers belonged to unions, today just 12 percent do (and only 9 percent in the private sector).] There are already 22 states in which “right-to-work” rules effectively outlaw collective bargaining; the National Labor Relations Board, entrusted with the sacred duty of protecting the human right to organize, has been turned into just another way station for GOP corporatist hacks; and the American manufacturing sector, once the backbone of the movement, has been eviscerated by globalization.

Faced with the possibility of permanent irrelevance, different factions of the AFL-CIO have recently been engaged in a knock-down, drag-out fight over what is to be done. Despite occasional coverage in the mainstream media, this has drawn just a smattering of attention in liberal publications and the blogosphere. But progressives everywhere need to realize that they have a powerful stake in its outcome: Without the American labor movement there is no American left, and the debate taking place right now could very well determine if the movement survives.

Progressives, now is the time to take action and save the labor movement before it is utterly defeated, as it has been already in large part, by the corporate aristocracy that pulls the strings of government. It is the time to challenge common middle-class prejudices against unions, take the Social Darwinist right wing to task, and confront hypocritical press coverage. Please take action now before it is too late.