This Labor Day, Thank Unions

 

Picture comes from the blog Boiled Over

Today is Labor Day, a day where workers across the country get a well-deserved day off for all of the hard work they have done.  Of course, this doesn't count the millions of Americans work at a fast-food restaurants, major chain businesses, retail stores and other non-emergency sectors of industry that are open today.  This is a pretty unfortunate fact when considers the type of backbreaking work they often do, along with the low wages and lack of benefits they receive. They deserve the day off as much as anyone.  But I digress . . .

What most people don't realize (or forgot if they ever did) is that the history of Labor Day is rooted in the struggles of the American labor movement of the late 19th Century.  Labor Day, at it's core is a celebration of Unions.

"But why should we be grateful to unions," one might ask.  In fact, this is the type of question I get all of the time when I talk about my support of unions to friends and family.  They either see unions as unnecessary, a nuisance for workers and workplaces, or some combination of the two. Let me be the first to admit that there are (and have always been) unions that are either poorly run, fight for the wrong issues, or are just plain corrupt. That doesn't mean that the overwhelming majority of unions are that way.

As for the necessity of unions, it may not seem like unions are relevant given the decline of unions over the last 30 years (which, by the way, can be directly related to the decline of the American middle class).  But just as most individuals don't realize unions are behind the creation of Labor Day, most people don't realize that it was that gave workers so many rights and priveledges that benefit all American's today.  Here is an excerpt from the Big Corporation blog:

Let's get one thing straight...

Employers and Corporations did not feel generous and decide to give you two days off every week to have a social/personal life. (We now call them weekends). Corporations did not just feel like being nice one day and give their employees paid vacations. CEOs didn't get together in a board room and say "Let's give our employees more rights at work" or "Maybe there should be laws to limit our power over an employee".

Virtually ALL the benefits you have at work, whether you work in the public or private sector, all of the benefits and rights you enjoy everyday are there because unions fought hard and long for them against big business who did everything they could to prevent giving you your rights. Many union leaders and members even lost their lives for things we take for granted today.

Still curious how a Union has benefited you?  Take a look at this list (also from the Big Corporation blog), which lists what Unions have fought for, and won, through their activism:

1. Weekends
2. All Breaks at Work, including your Lunch Breaks
3. Paid Vacation
4. FMLA
5. Sick Leave
6. Social Security
7. Minimum Wage
8. Civil Rights Act/Title VII (Prohibits Employer Discrimination)
9. 8-Hour Work Day
10. Overtime Pay
11. Child Labor Laws
12. Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA)
13. 40 Hour Work Week
14. Worker's Compensation (Worker's Comp)
15. Unemployment Insurance
16. Pensions
17. Workplace Safety Standards and Regulations
18. Employer Health Care Insurance
19. Collective Bargaining Rights for Employees
20. Wrongful Termination Laws
21. Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
22. Whistleblower Protection Laws
23. Employee Polygraph Protect Act (Prohibits Employer from using a lie detector test on an employee)
24. Veteran's Employment and Training Services (VETS)
25. Compensation increases and Evaluations (Raises)
26. Sexual Harassment Laws
27. Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) 
28. Holiday Pay
29. Employer Dental, Life, and Vision Insurance
30. Privacy Rights
31. Pregnancy and Parental Leave
32. Military Leave
33. The Right to Strike
34. Public Education for Children
35. Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 (Requires employers pay men and women equally for the same amount of work)
36. Laws Ending Sweatshops in the United States

This Labor Day, we as Americans need to be thankful for all of the good that Unions have done.  Unions may have their flaws, but we all need to recognize just how important they are for American workers. And after Labor Day, we need to stand up and fight for the relevancy and existence of Unions (just as they have been doing in Wisconsin).  In addition, we should support efforts for workers all of the country to create their own unions.  It's a tough battle, especially in these times when so many people don't even have a job to begin with; but it's a necessary battle.  Please do not take for granted the rights that American workers have, or they will slowly be lost.  Unless we fight for what is right, American workers will suffer the consequences.

The Message of the SOS March

Of all the events I missed writing about during my 5 month hiatus, the Save Our Schools March that took place in Washington, D.C. was probably the thing I wish I could have covered the most.  I wasn't in D.C., but I would have been there if I could have afforded it.  I ended up watching most of the speeches on the internet.  I thought I would share some of them here.

First, there is the speech from actor Matt Damon, whose Mom is an educator:



Secondly, there is Diane Ravitch, who has become one of my heroes this past year for sticking up for teachers against the so-called "education reform" movement.



Finally, here is a message from John Stewart (another one of my heroes).



The message of this march was an important one.  There are so many problem in education, but the focus of how to fix the problems and the resources that are used all go to the wrong places.  Instead of blaming poverty (and all of it's effects) for the achievement gap, we blame teachers and teacher unions.  Instead of individuals with vast amounts of experience in education to run our schools, we hire individuals with ties to big businesses.  Instead of trying to make society more equitable and secure, we fire teachers and close down schools.  Instead of trying to improve the public schools we have, we open charter schools as a panacea that can refuse to take students who need the most help.  Instead of teaching a holistic curriculum that emphasizes practical application of concepts and critical thinking skills, we narrow our curriculum to reading and math, and teach kids how to take multiple choice tests.  And when that isn't good enough, people get desperate and cheat.

If you want a good summary of what is really wrong with public education today, watch this recent interview with Ravitch and New York City school teacher Brian Jones on Democracy Now.


Oh, and for fun, watch Matt Damon school a reporter from Reason TV on education policy.  You are the man, Jason Bourne!

Thank You, Jon Stewart!

Teacher bashing is nothing new, but since the events is Wisconsin started two weeks ago, it has seemed to reach an all time high by many in the media.  In the clips below, Jon Stewart takes a look at this phenomenon.  Not only are teachers being blamed for the budget crisis that affects nearly every state across the country, but some of the oldest, most overused and unnecessary put downs of teachers are being used by pundits who feel most teachers have it easy.  As The Daily Show played clips of these pundits talking about what a cushy job teachers have, I sat in cold silence with a smirk on my face, while my wife yelled at the TV because they clearly didn't know what the hell they were talking about.

Jon Stewart, certainly out of a love for his mother who is a teacher, takes on these pundits, and defends teachers against these charges.  Anyone who is a teacher or who has a loved-one who is a teacher knows that teaching is anything but cushy (with the exception of the Fox News pundit in the first video below whose Mom is a teacher).  There are many long hours outside of their work day where they are grading papers, planning lessons, or talking to parents.  Chances are, if a teacher isn't spending time outside of their 8-hour contract period doing work, they aren't very good at their job.  Yes, there are summer breaks, but many teachers teach summer school, tutor, take a second job to earn extra income, or spend time coming up with new lesson ideas and getting ready for the upcoming year.  Often times, they are doing a combination of these.

Finally, there is the issue of teachers having a cushy pay in comparison to those in the private-sector workforce.  I will admit that in today's economy, the pay of a teacher probably looks pretty good compared to the many jobs people are now forced to get because of hard times.  But five years ago, when I decided to become a teacher, this was not the case.  While teachers have always had their detractors, it was widely agreed that teachers were overworked and underpaid.  One woman I knew growing up who is a now-retired professor of education joked that whenever I get married, I will know that girl is not marrying me because of the money I make (and I can honestly say that is true).  But times have changed, and suddenly teachers have it easy, they are overpaid, and are living off the the hard-earned money of the taxpayer (how dare we do that).  Fortunately, Jon Stewart challenges this thinking, and brings in some much-needed reality to this debate.

Here is Part 1:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Crisis in Dairyland - Angry Curds
www.thedailyshow.com
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Here is Part 2, a message to the teachers from Jon Stewart:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Crisis in Dairyland - Message for Teachers
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

I am Proud To Be in a Union!

 

Make no mistake about it, what is going on with the protests in Wisconsin is a very BIG DEAL!  

OK, so it is not as dramatic as what is going on countries like Libya, Egypt, Bahrain, and Tunisia.  Some have wanted  to compare Governor Walker to Mubarak or Gadafi, and compare the protests in Madison to the protests Tahrir Square.  These are not the same thing.  Not even close.  Anyone who compares Walker to Mubarak, or Hitler, or any other dictator are blowing things way out of proportion.  And no one who is protesting in Madison is risking their lives like the people protesting in Northern Africa or the Middle East.

Now that I have that out of the way, let's get back to the point that what is going on in Madison is still a BIG DEAL!  Make no mistake, what Governor Walker is trying to do is more than just a save money in the Wisconsin budget.  It is not as if the public-employee unions in Wisconsin are just being selfish, and aren't willing to compromise. Everyone understands these are hard times for state budgets, and the unions in Wisconsin have acknowledged this.   But what Walker is trying to do is bust the public-sector unions in the state of Wisconsin.  

This story is not only about the future of unions in Wisconsin, but it is also the beginning of a greater battle for the future of unions in the United States.  By no means are unions perfect, and I will not pretend that every union that has ever existed has fairly represented the interests of it's members.  Indeed, I will not pretend that I don't have some issues with the union I belong to.  Nonetheless, I understand that the value of unions are too important, and I am still damn proud to be a member of a union.  All things considered, unions are really the only groups left of any relative influence in our political process that can claim to stand up for the interests of working Americans, and not big business.  

 Why are unions so important?  Well, here is a video put out a few years ago by a group in Australia regarding some of the things unions have fought for over the years.  Some of what is discussed are exclusive to Australia, but a number of these things exist in the United States as well because of unions.

Last week, Rachel Maddow did a piece on her show about why the story in Wisconsin is so important to the future of labor, and why unions are so important to our republic, both now and throughout modern American history. 

 

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 Finally, I recommend this piece by Paul Krugman on the situation in Wisconsin.  Here is an excerpt:

In principle, every American citizen has an equal say in our political process. In practice, of course, some of us are more equal than others. Billionaires can field armies of lobbyists; they can finance think tanks that put the desired spin on policy issues; they can funnel cash to politicians with sympathetic views (as the Koch brothers did in the case of Mr. Walker). On paper, we’re a one-person-one-vote nation; in reality, we’re more than a bit of an oligarchy, in which a handful of wealthy people dominate.

Given this reality, it’s important to have institutions that can act as counterweights to the power of big money. And unions are among the most important of these institutions.
You don’t have to love unions, you don’t have to believe that their policy positions are always right, to recognize that they’re among the few influential players in our political system representing the interests of middle- and working-class Americans, as opposed to the wealthy. Indeed, if America has become more oligarchic and less democratic over the last 30 years — which it has — that’s to an important extent due to the decline of private-sector unions.

And now Mr. Walker and his backers are trying to get rid of public-sector unions, too.
There’s a bitter irony here. The fiscal crisis in Wisconsin, as in other states, was largely caused by the increasing power of America’s oligarchy. After all, it was superwealthy players, not the general public, who pushed for financial deregulation and thereby set the stage for the economic crisis of 2008-9, a crisis whose aftermath is the main reason for the current budget crunch. And now the political right is trying to exploit that very crisis, using it to remove one of the few remaining checks on oligarchic influence.

So will the attack on unions succeed? I don’t know. But anyone who cares about retaining government of the people by the people should hope that it doesn’t.

As I am writing this, I worry that someone who comes across this piece might think I am writing some type of left-wing propaganda.  Yes, I am a proud liberal, and I am sourcing two very prominent American liberals in this post (Maddow, Krugman).  But please, if you are reading this, I hope you will look at the bigger picture of what is going on with this story, regardless of what your politics are.  This is one of those issues that is beyond left and right.  It is more than a state budgetary matter.  It is about the influence of big business and corporations, and the future of working class Americans.  Whatever your politics are, if you are a working American, I ask you to understand the importance of this story.  Then, Get Mad!  Then, Get United!