Wages and other human rights would be much worse without Unions. I was not personally represented by a union however my father and brother were and I know that the unions fought hard for them to have decent salaries. As is is now the billionaires are so worried about their money and want to make more and more dollars at the expense of their employees. The owners of Amazon, Tesla, X, and so on want more and more toys for themselves and if they could get away with paying workers one dollar a day they would gladly do so. Their attitude is too bad if you are hungry, can’t pay your bills, they only think of themselves. Unions are absolutely necessary for everyone to have a fair share. Without workers they are nobody, without consumers they are nobody…Unions are absolutely necessary to assure that workers get paid a decent wage, are treated humanely, have insurance, and a good retirement plan!
Read David Leonhardt's _Ours Was the Shining Future: The Rise and Fall of the American Dream_ for an excellent account of the value of unions. He graphs the share of national income going to the BOTTOM 90%: from the 1930's to the 1980's it's 60-70%, with growth for everyone; since then all the growth has been at the top. The same graph shows %union membership, which the high in the same decades that the bottom 90% do well, with a one-decade lag in the 1980's.
Correlation; now for causation. As you say, he makes the case that unions bring better wages and benefits and working conditions When I was a Libertarian I thought this increased unemployment. It can -- for an extreme example note there are almost no US-flag ships -- unions and government regulations they supported made it much cheaper to be foreign-flagged. However, most of the time unions don't bring actually above-market wages, because there is a large "zone of indeterminacy about what a worker's services are worth. Because companies have more market power, individually-negotiated wages are likely to be at the low end; unions have more equal power and negotiate a wage higher in the zone; the effect is primarily to give a higher share of the company's income to workers at the expense of capital and management salaries. Unemployment wasn't high in the decades of high union membership..
He makes a point of the necessary connection between unions and politics.. Unions were brutally suppressed from the 19th century through the '20's because mayors and governors and presidents broke up strikes and public opinion supported them. Membership exploded affter New Deal laws established the right to organize, and WWII war production put pressure on employers to avoid disruptions. Unions and Democratic politicians had a long symbiotic relationship: union members knocked on doors to get them elected, and they protected unions. Republican Eisenhower didn't rock the boat that much. Moderate Republicans of the 1960's would be flaming liberals today. The Cold War and consensus about fiscal responsibility and supporting youth kept both parties fairly consistent in foreign policy and investment in highways and education and scientific research that made America the envy of the world and kept incomes rising over the long haul.
The downfall had different causes. Civil rights broke the connection between Southern and Northern Democrats; Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act saying he'd lost the South for a generation -- optimist! Unions became less ideological: they failed to adapt and organize service industries or farm jobs; they focused on their members in declining domestic manufacturing, and fought each other (for instance the Teamsters worked with farmers to break up United Farm Workers because they hoped to organize them themselves).
In the late 60's and early 70's, the intellectual action on the Left moved from unions and working-class leaders to middle-class students concerned about civil rights, feminism, environmentalism and LGBT rights -- concerns he calls "Brahmin issues" of the educated middle and upper-class Americans -- AKA the new Democratic base. These issues are often anathema to working-class people.
On the right, neoliberalism triumphed;, and like Eisenhower accepting New Deal institutions, New Democrats like Clinton pushed through trade liberalization deals like GATT and NAFTA, globalization with few safeguards -- it made the whole world and middle- and upper-income Americans much richer -- Chinese grad students I knew who had been away from home 6-7 years barely recognized their transformed hometowns -- but it devastated American manufacturing jobs and union membership.
Excellent platform for educate and debate! And especially valuable to heighten the awareness and importance of democracy and how that relates to believing in unions - or not.
I was a Libertarian with no use for unions much of my adult life. That changed (reading Michael and the book Ours Was the Shining Future helped), but that wasn't necessary. Michael points out. You don't need to identify with partners at major law firms or billionaire owners of media conglomerates to see Trump's making them kowtow to hiim is dangerous for democracy. The same with unions. He's not just implementing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_2025 he claimed not to know about; he's following the https://dictatorplaybook.com/ . Excerpts (ALL CAPS emphasis is mine):
... Phase 2: Erode Democratic Institutions
Control Information
- Gain influence or control over the MEDIA to suppress dissenting voices.
- Limit access to INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM and promote state-sponsored narratives.
Amend Legal Frameworks
- Push for constitutional changes that concentrate power in your hands.
- Use LEGAL LOOPHOLES OR EMERGENCY POWERS to bypass democratic checks and balances.
Phase 3: Establish Totalitarian Control
Eliminate Dissent
- Establish a secret police or intelligence apparatus to monitor and suppress opposition.
-ARREST, EXILE or eliminate political opponents and activists.
CULTIVATE FEAR
- Publicly punish dissenters to discourage resistance.
- Foster an atmosphere where people are afraid to speak against you. ...
Unions overcome FEAR an authoritarian cultivates by channeling individual resistance into COLLECTIVE ACTION, says Michael. Poland's Solidarity union overthrew its communist government (with moral support from Polish pope John Paul). Authoritarians hate unions: "They came for the trade unionists" is #2 on Martin Niemoeller's Holocaust list; "They came for the Jews" is #3. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists
Trump's attack on Federal unions is just the opening salvo: combined with his gutting of the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board), he's inviting every company to try to break unions: Labor laws will not be enforced to stop them.
There are so many worthy contributors to substack that I would like to support but like too many will my SS payment come? Your post of Courts will not save us I read with interest dove tailing with Presidents & the People. Other than a reform of the SC , are we just victims of the FS & the Robert’s Court? I am postcarding them, it makes me feel better even if in reality no one reads them
Hell no!!! Unions must stand! They are the only way working people have a chance against the 1%, this corrupt regime and the Insane Clown Posse ruining OUR NATION.
you guys got to take good care of yourselves - these are beyond dispiriting times, we need your wisdom - this is not ending soon - thank you for not stepping back
I really we could do more than just talk about the damage Trump is doing to our country!
There is some discussion about what we can do at 16:45
🔸"Labor unions are a powerful weapon against the development of [Fascism]..
🔸Because fascism thrives under conditions of economic uncertainty.. labor unions guard against fascist politics’ gaining a foothold."
"How Fascism Works the Politics of Us and Them", Stanley, p199
Wages and other human rights would be much worse without Unions. I was not personally represented by a union however my father and brother were and I know that the unions fought hard for them to have decent salaries. As is is now the billionaires are so worried about their money and want to make more and more dollars at the expense of their employees. The owners of Amazon, Tesla, X, and so on want more and more toys for themselves and if they could get away with paying workers one dollar a day they would gladly do so. Their attitude is too bad if you are hungry, can’t pay your bills, they only think of themselves. Unions are absolutely necessary for everyone to have a fair share. Without workers they are nobody, without consumers they are nobody…Unions are absolutely necessary to assure that workers get paid a decent wage, are treated humanely, have insurance, and a good retirement plan!
Read David Leonhardt's _Ours Was the Shining Future: The Rise and Fall of the American Dream_ for an excellent account of the value of unions. He graphs the share of national income going to the BOTTOM 90%: from the 1930's to the 1980's it's 60-70%, with growth for everyone; since then all the growth has been at the top. The same graph shows %union membership, which the high in the same decades that the bottom 90% do well, with a one-decade lag in the 1980's.
Correlation; now for causation. As you say, he makes the case that unions bring better wages and benefits and working conditions When I was a Libertarian I thought this increased unemployment. It can -- for an extreme example note there are almost no US-flag ships -- unions and government regulations they supported made it much cheaper to be foreign-flagged. However, most of the time unions don't bring actually above-market wages, because there is a large "zone of indeterminacy about what a worker's services are worth. Because companies have more market power, individually-negotiated wages are likely to be at the low end; unions have more equal power and negotiate a wage higher in the zone; the effect is primarily to give a higher share of the company's income to workers at the expense of capital and management salaries. Unemployment wasn't high in the decades of high union membership..
He makes a point of the necessary connection between unions and politics.. Unions were brutally suppressed from the 19th century through the '20's because mayors and governors and presidents broke up strikes and public opinion supported them. Membership exploded affter New Deal laws established the right to organize, and WWII war production put pressure on employers to avoid disruptions. Unions and Democratic politicians had a long symbiotic relationship: union members knocked on doors to get them elected, and they protected unions. Republican Eisenhower didn't rock the boat that much. Moderate Republicans of the 1960's would be flaming liberals today. The Cold War and consensus about fiscal responsibility and supporting youth kept both parties fairly consistent in foreign policy and investment in highways and education and scientific research that made America the envy of the world and kept incomes rising over the long haul.
The downfall had different causes. Civil rights broke the connection between Southern and Northern Democrats; Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act saying he'd lost the South for a generation -- optimist! Unions became less ideological: they failed to adapt and organize service industries or farm jobs; they focused on their members in declining domestic manufacturing, and fought each other (for instance the Teamsters worked with farmers to break up United Farm Workers because they hoped to organize them themselves).
In the late 60's and early 70's, the intellectual action on the Left moved from unions and working-class leaders to middle-class students concerned about civil rights, feminism, environmentalism and LGBT rights -- concerns he calls "Brahmin issues" of the educated middle and upper-class Americans -- AKA the new Democratic base. These issues are often anathema to working-class people.
On the right, neoliberalism triumphed;, and like Eisenhower accepting New Deal institutions, New Democrats like Clinton pushed through trade liberalization deals like GATT and NAFTA, globalization with few safeguards -- it made the whole world and middle- and upper-income Americans much richer -- Chinese grad students I knew who had been away from home 6-7 years barely recognized their transformed hometowns -- but it devastated American manufacturing jobs and union membership.
Excellent platform for educate and debate! And especially valuable to heighten the awareness and importance of democracy and how that relates to believing in unions - or not.
I was a Libertarian with no use for unions much of my adult life. That changed (reading Michael and the book Ours Was the Shining Future helped), but that wasn't necessary. Michael points out. You don't need to identify with partners at major law firms or billionaire owners of media conglomerates to see Trump's making them kowtow to hiim is dangerous for democracy. The same with unions. He's not just implementing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_2025 he claimed not to know about; he's following the https://dictatorplaybook.com/ . Excerpts (ALL CAPS emphasis is mine):
... Phase 2: Erode Democratic Institutions
Control Information
- Gain influence or control over the MEDIA to suppress dissenting voices.
- Limit access to INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM and promote state-sponsored narratives.
Amend Legal Frameworks
- Push for constitutional changes that concentrate power in your hands.
- Use LEGAL LOOPHOLES OR EMERGENCY POWERS to bypass democratic checks and balances.
Phase 3: Establish Totalitarian Control
Eliminate Dissent
- Establish a secret police or intelligence apparatus to monitor and suppress opposition.
-ARREST, EXILE or eliminate political opponents and activists.
CULTIVATE FEAR
- Publicly punish dissenters to discourage resistance.
- Foster an atmosphere where people are afraid to speak against you. ...
Unions overcome FEAR an authoritarian cultivates by channeling individual resistance into COLLECTIVE ACTION, says Michael. Poland's Solidarity union overthrew its communist government (with moral support from Polish pope John Paul). Authoritarians hate unions: "They came for the trade unionists" is #2 on Martin Niemoeller's Holocaust list; "They came for the Jews" is #3. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists
Trump's attack on Federal unions is just the opening salvo: combined with his gutting of the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board), he's inviting every company to try to break unions: Labor laws will not be enforced to stop them.
May I recommend “In Dubious Battle “?
There are so many worthy contributors to substack that I would like to support but like too many will my SS payment come? Your post of Courts will not save us I read with interest dove tailing with Presidents & the People. Other than a reform of the SC , are we just victims of the FS & the Robert’s Court? I am postcarding them, it makes me feel better even if in reality no one reads them
My German Father had to leave.
Harry, mute?
Hell no!!! Unions must stand! They are the only way working people have a chance against the 1%, this corrupt regime and the Insane Clown Posse ruining OUR NATION.
you guys got to take good care of yourselves - these are beyond dispiriting times, we need your wisdom - this is not ending soon - thank you for not stepping back
HE CANT BE ALLOWED to DO THAT.
Not in the presidential handbook of what he can do !
General Strike. Gotta happen.
A set of 3 old Ad Council ads. Prescient.
https://youtu.be/ezxfgXs8-bU?si=xPcNNdEyG07SssQ7