The upcoming drive to reunionize the work force by Ben Samuel
(liberal)
Friday, November 28, 2008
"You can't scare me I'm sticking with the union, until the day I die!"
So goes the old refrain from one of the more renown union songs from the era of the New Deal. With Democrats in control of Congress and the White House, with a seeming economic and social depression upon us, and with people losing their current jobs on a daily basis, a drive to once again organize the workforce will soon be upon us. Its first expression will be passage of the "Employee Free Choice Act" which will allow union recognition upon a showing of majority interest by collecting authorization cards of a majority of an employer's employees.
Democrats, having relied upon the unions for foot soldiers and funds, will need to make this happen in order to shore up their support for the coming elections and the next generation of control of government. A workforce having had its fill of "at-will" employment, and having noticed it isn't just government work that promotes nepotism, inefficiency, and coddled thievery, will indulge itself in the lost art of unionism. Among the new Union Leaders will be those former high flying, free spending Wall Street tycoons who have now gone bust and find they must resort to the factory for their future. 401 K plans have gone to ruin, and Taft-Hartley Trusts (defined benefit pension plans) will return to prominence in some form or other, providing a new mantra for the new Union generation, "Yes we can, together."
Surviving American businesses will find being unionized to their liking. With the government nationalizing the banks, and certain to be directing the flow of cash and credit, businesses that patronize unionized operations and are unionized themselves are certain to find a freer flow of cash and credit to their enterprises. Another benefit that will flow, for a period, from an organized workforce will be the ability to control and project with a certain reliance the cost of labor. Pushed by their unionized employees, businesses stand to benefit as well during the coming inflation as labor must always chase the cost of living and business must be able to afford to pay for labor.
America is moving swiftly into an era of frugality and poverty chic. Maybe some of us old beats can bring out the bongos again.
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in this article are those of Ben Samuel only and
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My father is a IBEW memeber and he absolutely hates the Employee Free Choice Act. Unions are supposed to create a balance between the workers and mangement NOT give unions power over mangement. This Act does nothing to help union workers, it only gives ammo to those on the right who still equate union to communist.
Most trades people rely upon their skills and Davis-Bacon to ward off competition for their jobs and enhancement of their livelihoods. In the industrial environment, one that will reemerge once the standard of living here in America has been adequately adjusted to the rest of the world, unions are required to represent competing interests within the employer in order to form a bargaining unit with which the employer will deal. Toward that end the employer retains substantial freedom and bargaining leverage. We do not need ever to worry about the leverage of business with its workforce, it will always have substantial advantage. Management only loses what it gives away.
In general, the workforce as a majority has favored unionization, but not the battleground that has been established since the Presidency of Ronald Reagan which began an anti-union bias in government. People want the ability to have a contract without the brutality that currently comes with such efforts.
The Employee Free Choice Act will be assaulted as anti-worker, undemocratic and all manner of other curse against people who wish to engage in free association. Whether it is passed or not, the other elements that are important (e.g. NLRB, Labor Management Enforcement Standards, OSHA) are all about to swing the pendulum in a direction that should foster union organization.
Posted By: Jahfre Fire Eater
Date: 2008-11-29 07:08:56
I fortunately work in an "at will" industry that can never be unionized.
The best thing unions can accomplish in the next decade is to shepherd the workers towards a peacable decline in their standard of living. If they try to hold the line on wages and standards of living they will have none left to unionize besides the unemployed.
A man your age should never say never. If it should become advantageous, than any workforce and business can be organized (unionized).
Your comment seems to discount the coming inflation which will be substantial. Standards of living will certainly decline, and, as I mentioned above, unions will be chasing a rapidly increasing cost of living. With the coming government control of credit and lending, and even capital formation, collective approaches to workforce issues will be preferred over the constant drain of negotiating with individuals. Yes, there will be substantial unemployment, but businesses will still need a stable and reliable workforce, no matter who the owners are and where they are headquartered. America will inevitably be an inexpensive place to produce, and a substantial market in which to sell. Businesses that are organized will find a favorable environment to enhance their own profitability. Unions can effectively mediate the cultural changes that will affect the country's regions as foreign interests begin to take hold and permeate America's business environment.
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