Hard Times for Union Organizing

 Amazon warehouse workers at the company's Bessemer Alabama facility voted 1798 to 738 not join the Retail Wholesale Department Store Union after a year long organizing effort. Many observers said it was an uphill battle likely to fail because the workers were paid more than $15 per hour and had healthcare benefits already. But union officials blamed the company for unfair tactics. There were mandatory captive audience meetings where employees were forced to listen to anti union propaganda. Amazon barred workers from talking about the union and didn't allow organizers on company property. The RWDU may appeal the vote to the National Labor Relations Board. 

This is one of many big defeats for unions trying to organize workers. The retail giant Wal Mart has consistently thwarted union efforts to organize it's employees. The once powerful United Auto Workers has failed repeatedly to organize workers at foreign owned plants including Nissan at Canton Mississippi in 2017 and Volkswagen in Chattanooga Tennessee in 2019.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics 10.8 % of all workers belong to a union in 2020. That includes 6.7% of all private sector workers and 34.8 % of all public employees. At it's height organized labor had 33% of all American workers in 1954. While the shift from a manufacturing to service economy along with free trade and globalization has cost millions of union jobs, the environment is less hospitable to organizing as well. Republicans have used their dominance of state governments to push through right to work laws in 27 states. These laws assure workers can't be required to join a union or pay dues. In 2011 Republican Governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin effectively stripped public employee unions of their bargaining power through a law that restricted their rights only to negotiating pay raises that could not exceed inflation, requiring unions to win a majority of eligible workers votes on contracts to keep their bargaining rights, and barring the union from requiring dues. Since that time membership in the state employees union and teachers belonging to the American Federation of Teachers have fallen by nearly half in Wisconsin according to the Washington Post. Even worse unions and activists successfully mobilized a recall election that failed to remove Walker in 2012. 

What about Democrats union's traditional allies ? Leading up to the 2009 Presidential election organized labor was pressing for the Employee Free Choice Act which among other things would allow workers to gain union recognition when a majority sign cards rather than voting in elections which unions claim can be swayed by employer intimidation. Barack Obama said he supported the act on the campaign trail. However once in office Obama backed off and did nothing. The legislation died in the Senate due to a Republican filibuster and opposition from some Democrats who were the majority. 

The conservative dominated Supreme Court has also made it harder on unions. In Janus v. AFSCME the court ruled that fair share laws and agreements requiring non union workers who benefit form union contracts to pay union dues are unconstitutional. This has undermined unions' main source of funding. 

Many workers do not support unions either. They think unionized labor is lazy and selfish. A lot of people feel lucky to have a job. Unions are viewed as anti business and hindering growth. In an individualistic country like the U.S many workers would rather go it alone. Others believe they can trust their employers to do the right thing when it comes to pay and benefits. More importantly workers worry that supporting a union will cause companies to move away. They don't want to lose jobs, pay, or benefits. This is especially true in poor and depressed communities. If people are making $ 15 per hour or a little more they don't want to risk joining a union. One observer said people depend on their employers for everything. They worry joining a union will antagonize the company. Intimidation and firings are a reality. Government enforcement of laws against this are lax. Besides there's nothing government can do when companies move away. People struggling to make ends meet know the realities. The Service Employees International Union has been able to organize some janitors and home care workers. However it's not enough. The gig economy, increased use of temporary workers, and classifying workers as independent contractors further complicates things. These workers lack all kinds of benefits and legal protections especially workers termed independent contractors and those in the gig economy.     

Some on the left including union officials believe labor must go beyond collective bargaining and organizing. They think unions must be part of broader struggles for social and economic justice. Issues like racism, supporting undocumented immigrants, and climate change should be taken up by organized labor. This may be happening already with groups like the Service Employees International Union through it's involvement with local campaigns to raise the Minimum Wage - The Fight for $15 per hour. If people know you care about things important to them they will support you in return. More importantly unions can be part of struggles for positive social change.

As long as there's capitalism unions will be necessary. Employers have the power to do whatever they want when workers are not organized, and unions check that power. Everything that makes work safe, decent, and good paying is the result of unions. Our economy is less equal, less livable, or prosperous for the average worker because of the decline and attack on organized labor. The survival of the middle class depends on strong unions. 

Finding Derek Chauvin Guilty is Important

At the time of this posting a jury has just convicted former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin of murder in the death of George Floyd. Police who kill suspects under questionable circumstances are rarely charged or convicted of a crime. This has been especially true of white officers who kill blacks. The guilty verdict in this case may be more significant than people realize. Chauvin could spend years in prison. For the first time someone is being held accountable for their actions. 

There's been a lot of discussion and controversy about solutions to racism and policing. There have been calls to defund police and reinvest money in services that help the poor, mentally ill, homeless people, and those battling substance abuse. Others advocate disbanding or abolition. They view law enforcement as a tool of racist and capitalist oppression. Critics of all these measures view them as radical. They argue it will lead to lawlessness and disorder harming the poor and minority communities advocates claim to represent. More importantly opponents of these reforms say they aren't politically possible. All this breaks down along racial and ideological lines. Blacks want far reaching and immediate change. Conservative whites see the demands as anti police. Moderate and liberal leaning whites are torn between sympathy for blacks, and concerns about losing white voters who consider these ideas too extreme. Any of these things would take a long time, and none it will be exactly what advocates want. The democratic process doesn't work that way. Everyone needs to remember this. 

The guilty verdict matters right now. If there are more trials and convictions like this maybe fewer blacks will be brutalized or killed by police. Prosecutors must be more willing charge police officers in these cases. They must do the hard work to get a conviction. Jurors must recognize not just racism in policing, but law enforcement is given power to deprive people of life and liberty. They must be held to a high standard, and those who misuse that power must be punished. The trial and conviction of Derek Chauvin can send that message. 

We have to start somewhere even while demanding long term solutions. There's nothing wrong with fighting for big systemic changes. Our history as black people and as Americans has shown the difference ordinary people can make through mass movements and social struggle. However none of this is easy, and there are no guarantees. For now we needed simple justice, and finding Derek Chauvin guilty was just that.

The Poor and Our Politics

 Antipoverty provisions in the American Rescue Act are being praised as the most significant effort to help poor people since the Great Society and War On Poverty under President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s. This latest coronavirus relief package puts more money in poor people's pockets, and children may be the biggest beneficiaries. Large reductions in child poverty are predicted. However we should not overstate the benefits. Reducing poverty takes a long term commitment neither politicians or the American people have been willing to make.

There is no political backlash when Medicaid or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (food stamps) are cut. Instead politicians gain support. Yet Social Security and Medicare for seniors are untouchable. They have broad public support. The American Rescue Act primarily helps the middle class providing $ 1400 stimulus checks for individuals making up to $ 75,000 and couples making $150,000 with another $ 1400 per dependent.

What does that latest relief package do for poor people ? It converts an existing child tax credit into an allowance. Those five and younger get $3600 while those 6 to 17 get $3000. The benefits are universal too. They include the non working poor who don't have taxable income. It also increases funding for rental assistance, food stamps, and Section 8 housing vouchers. The Urban Institute says the measure could reduce child poverty by 52%. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities puts the figure at 40%. Meanwhile experts at Columbia University predict an overall decline in poverty by one third. All of this is a step in the right direction because the pandemic has devastated poor people. But the antipoverty initiatives expire in a year so many people will fall back into poverty unless the allowance is made permanent. That's the political challenge because there is some indication that President Biden would like to do this. While liberals and leftists would be supportive moderate Democrats within the Biden's own party would join Republicans in opposition. In the closely divided Senate moderate Democrats especially Joe Manchin of West Virginia effectively pushed to strip a $15 per hour Minimum Wage increase from the package.

Ultimately politicians in neither party or the voting public support major reforms to help the poor. It's not about deficits or the national debt. It isn't about waste and inefficiency either. Government doing big things to help the poor is not popular because poor people themselves rather than society are blamed for poverty. As long as the poor are considered broken or pathological society doesn't have to be changed. You don't have raise the Minimum Wage if poor people are lazy and lack ambition. It doesn't make sense to improve schools for poor children if they don't value learning. Racism and sexism contribute to poverty too. Until these ongoing problems are addressed nothing will change.

This latest effort to help the poor isn't bad. Anything is better than nothing. But it's not good enough.