From the AFL-CIO NOW Blog
Dave Johnson writes for the Campaign for America’s Future and adapted this post for us.
Our country was born out of a fight to cast off colonial rule by a wealthy elite and govern ourselves as We, the People. This fight continues, and nothing more clearly represents this American effort to lift each other up than organized labor. On July 4, as we celebrate our independence I encourage people to recognize our ongoing battle by buying
Made in USA goods, and by working for democracy and the rights of workers everywhere.
I recently bought a hat with “AFL-CIO” written on it. Inside the hat there is a label that reads, “Union Made in the USA.” I was thinking about how unions wouldn’t buy cheap hats made in China or by some nonunion sweatshop, even if it was in the United States. They stick with their values.
There are many examples of unions sticking with their values. Union locals don’t use nonunion print shops—and you might notice that many candidates for office recognize this and use union printers to print their own campaign materials because they know that union members look for this. Union members stick together when other workers are trying to bargain for wages, benefits, rights and respect. People who work directly for unions get good wages and benefits. And union members generally show up and vote for candidates who support broad American values that say “we’re in this together,” rather than the conservative “you’re on your own” philosophy.
This got me thinking about where we are with the economy, following the decrease of union membership and many years of corporate/conservative domination of the “marketplace of ideas.” Decades of this “market” stuff has been driven into our heads, the media is entirely corporate and the corporate media rarely shows someone from labor talking about how joining a union benefits workers or how labor values are good for us. Everything we hear is entirely the conservative/corporate/Wall Street perspective now that we are protected from having to hear other opinions. How has that worked out for all of us?
Let’s look at some of the core values of America’s labor movement, and see how these are standing up to the “stress test” our economy is undergoing.
First, the law.
According to the National Labor Relations Board:
Congress enacted the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) in 1935 to protect the rights of employees and employers, to encourage collective bargaining, and to curtail certain private sector labor and management practices, which can harm the general welfare of workers, businesses and the U.S. economy.
This statement reflects American values: Employees and employers,
together. Protecting
rights. Encouraging collective action: democracy. Promoting the
general welfare of workers, businesses and the economy. This is a statement that says promoting democracy, justice and equality boosts
all of us, helping us to prosper
together.
Please take a moment to read
Section 1 of the NLRA. In summary, it says that lack of bargaining power by workers against corporations leads to Depressions (we call them recessions now) because of depressed purchasing power. And it leads to strikes, which disrupt commerce. Therefore, it is the policy of the United States to
encourage collective bargaining. If you have more time, read through some of the things this law says because you will be shocked at the extent to which our government now ignores its own laws, acting in a one-sided way allowing businesses to fire organizers and intimidate workers but doing so little for working people. How has that worked out for us?
Take a look at the
AFL-CIO mission statement:
The mission of the AFL-CIO is to improve the lives of working families—to bring economic justice to the workplace and social justice to our nation.
This doesn’t say they do this for AFL-CIO members only, it says they do this for all of us. How would
