Podcast (attitude): Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Part One:
We speak with Scott Braddock, editor of the Quorum Report, the “Voice of Texas.” Even though Texas is a national leader in mass shootings — including two in the last few weeks — Gov. Greg Abbott has failed to respond to these shootings with anything substantive. For example, the assault rifles that are often used for mass shootings should be banned. They are useful for no purpose other than for hunting human beings, and that is not a protected purpose.
Part Two:
We speak with Harold Meyerson, Editor at Large at the American Prospect, about the current state of the labor movement. It’s not good: whereas 60% of the workers were organized in the post-war period, today only 6.4% of private sector employees are union members.
We are reminded that labor unions gave us all the eight-hour day, the weekend, and retirement benefits. These ideas didn’t arise because big businesses were benevolent despots. Many courageous working people struggled to organize their colleagues into unions, and the unions struggled against management forces to win collective bargaining agreements, a (somewhat) living wage, and better working conditions.
Why have many Americans developed a case of collective amnesia about unions’ contributions to their working lives? One cause is that many industries have become oligopolies, with very few businesses “competing” with each other. This gives the companies excessive profits (compared to free-market competition), and more power with which to control their workers. When it comes to union-management bargaining over wages and working conditions, the playing field is not level.
Another cause of unions’ decline is that employers have engaged in active union-busting practices. Unfortunately the government “regulators,” such as the NLRB, have been lax about prosecuting unfair labor practices and, when they have begun proceedings, have imposed weak and ineffective punishments for employers’ violations of the labor laws.
Moreover, we have a much more “fluid” economy. Workers can no longer depend on keeping their jobs until they retire. They often have to move from job to job multiple times during their careers. The instability that ensues creates a riskier situation for any workers who try to unionize and/or to vigorously bargain for a fair contract.
We turn to the question of what can be done to build a strong and vibrant union movement and to rebuild the American middle class. First, obviously, the law could be changed to make it more difficult for corporations/employers to suppress union organizing and to crush unions that already exist. Indeed, our labor laws could be amended to make it easier for workers to negotiate a fair contract with their employers. Some states have adopted laws that create a wage board to set wages for an entire industry, so a union does not have to engage in lengthy negotiations with (or go on strike against) dozens of different employers over the same issues.
