Rochester, N.Y. -- Here at the Voice Reporter, we have been saying all along that big business and the media conglomerates they own have been pushing the untruthful narrative that simply states, "Unions are bad." They have also been asking the question, "Are unions needed anymore?"
Unions were blamed for the downfall of GM and Chrysler with foot-dragging over wages and benefits. Teachers' unions are accused of protecting bad teachers and standing in the way of providing good education for our kids. Public workers are supposedly overpaid and lazy. And oh, didn't you hear? State worker salaries and pensions caused the Empire State's budget crisis, too.
The bottom line seems to be that, at best, unions are becoming extinct and are about to go the same way as the dinosaur. At worst, they are a bee in our bonnet and a drag on our economy. Well, we are here to say “not so fast” to those who oppose us-- soon enough the arc that bends towards fairness and justice will eventually come our way once again. Sooner than later, the American people will know the truth and have their say in the court of public opinion.
Unions provide democratic workplaces and a counterbalance to absolute power
So, why do we have unions in the first place? Well, one reason is because the persistent problem of unlimited corporate or managerial power that has continued to destabilize our workplaces and economy for years on end. The system requires an effective counterbalance-- and that's mainly why organized labor exists folks-- among another hundred or so different reasons.
The need for such a counterbalance to runaway corporate greed is crystal clear. We saw the effect of increasing corporate power in the 2010 elections after the ludicrous Citizens United v. FCC decision. We literally see it affect virtually every law considered by Congress and state legislatures across this great nation. To allow unlimited amounts of money influence public policy is perhaps one of the worst legal court edicts ever-- we should have learned our lesson many years ago.
Why are we so willing to repeat historical mistakes?
Historically, we saw the same thing happen in the period leading up to the 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression in the early 1930's. As corporations grow mightier, they were able to amass even greater power by pocketing politicans, having them pass pro-business legislation while they hired the best lobbyists in the nation to maintain the status-quo and to keep organized labor at bay. Eventually, unemployment soared and the middle class crumbled.
Today, we are once again reliving the dynamics of unchecked corporate greed. The recession we are experiencing now should not have come as a surprise to anyone who was paying attention to the erosion of pay and working conditions and to the steady increase in poverty and unemployment due to tax breaks for the rich, deregulation, American companies shipping our jobs overseas, funding two unnecessary wars, a bursting housing bubble, greedy Wall Street bankers and the unethical behavior of private equity firms. Or, in other terms, the recession and deficit table was previously set by eight horrible policy years of the Bush administration and a complicit GOP leadership in Washington.
And once again, Supreme Court decisions are making global corporations unaccountable to their societies by removing limits and regulations fueled only by their profit margins, personal gain and inflated egos. Sadly, the American labor movement has let our transnational business titans convince our Justices and lawmakers that our national strength lies in big business profits-- not in jobs and a "quality of life" for the average American worker. What is different this time around however, is that our once-labeled American corporations are now investing in emerging middle class markets in China, India and Brazil-- not in your back yard.
Remember the NLRB?
Among other actions Congress took to limit irresponsible corporate power was to enact the National Labor Relations Act in 1935. Congress wanted to give unions power to act as a stabilizer to corporate lawlessness and authority. In a recent post, the Voice Reporter points out that to this day, the House GOP has never given up the fight to weaken the NLRB's ability to affect change.
As Congress saw it, corporation law had allowed individuals who were employers to collectively amass unchecked power and they wreaked havoc on American families. Workers, on the other hand, were mere individuals who lacked the collective influence to bargain as equals with their employers. The result was the rich got richer while wages and working conditions declined. It led to poverty, crime, lawlessness, economic collapse and social unrest.
Workers who cannot say no to unjust actions are no more than slaves and not free people; they are not citizens of a civil democracy. That is what we are fighting about-- this is what anti-labor forces aren't telling you. In the richest nation in the world, the American worker deserves respect, dignity, and the right to earn a living wage for an honest day's work-- nothing more, nothing less.
Unions will always play a role in American society
We make a grave mistake when we blame unions for just doing their job-- for being a counterweight to corporate or governmental power run amok. Both public and private sector unions have a legal obligation to be the disloyal opposition, so to speak. When there is no check on the steady growth of corporate power or political corruption, we lose the balance and equality necessary for a functional democracy to exist. Unions give workers the right of due process and equal protection under employment law-- something all patriotic Americans should admire and value.
Can someone please tell us what is so troubling about providing workers with the tools to succeed? Why is it evil to ensure that employees who are accused of wrongdoing or malfeasance get a fair shake? What worker, what person, in a time of trouble would not want someone to stand beside them in any venue to ensure they get fair treatment? And how, exactly, does the workplace and our society benefit from firing a worker for no justifiable reason whatsoever? Equal protection and a duty to fair representation are sacred American institutions and labor unions provide those key democratic values for workers.
Unions have a legal role here folks whether anti-labor forces like it or not-- CSEA has been around for over 100 years and we're not going anywhere.
The American people are hungry for our leaders to restore a vision for a national future founded on the premise that social justice and material prosperity are not competing values — that they can co-exist and are necessary to each other for a healthy, sustainable and growing economy. The sooner we recognize that, the better.
-Ove Overmyer
The opinions expressed here by Mr. Overmyer are the views of the author only and do not represent CSEA as an organization.
Unions were blamed for the downfall of GM and Chrysler with foot-dragging over wages and benefits. Teachers' unions are accused of protecting bad teachers and standing in the way of providing good education for our kids. Public workers are supposedly overpaid and lazy. And oh, didn't you hear? State worker salaries and pensions caused the Empire State's budget crisis, too.
Unions provide democratic workplaces and a counterbalance to absolute power
So, why do we have unions in the first place? Well, one reason is because the persistent problem of unlimited corporate or managerial power that has continued to destabilize our workplaces and economy for years on end. The system requires an effective counterbalance-- and that's mainly why organized labor exists folks-- among another hundred or so different reasons.
The need for such a counterbalance to runaway corporate greed is crystal clear. We saw the effect of increasing corporate power in the 2010 elections after the ludicrous Citizens United v. FCC decision. We literally see it affect virtually every law considered by Congress and state legislatures across this great nation. To allow unlimited amounts of money influence public policy is perhaps one of the worst legal court edicts ever-- we should have learned our lesson many years ago.
Why are we so willing to repeat historical mistakes?
Today, we are once again reliving the dynamics of unchecked corporate greed. The recession we are experiencing now should not have come as a surprise to anyone who was paying attention to the erosion of pay and working conditions and to the steady increase in poverty and unemployment due to tax breaks for the rich, deregulation, American companies shipping our jobs overseas, funding two unnecessary wars, a bursting housing bubble, greedy Wall Street bankers and the unethical behavior of private equity firms. Or, in other terms, the recession and deficit table was previously set by eight horrible policy years of the Bush administration and a complicit GOP leadership in Washington.
And once again, Supreme Court decisions are making global corporations unaccountable to their societies by removing limits and regulations fueled only by their profit margins, personal gain and inflated egos. Sadly, the American labor movement has let our transnational business titans convince our Justices and lawmakers that our national strength lies in big business profits-- not in jobs and a "quality of life" for the average American worker. What is different this time around however, is that our once-labeled American corporations are now investing in emerging middle class markets in China, India and Brazil-- not in your back yard.
Remember the NLRB?
Among other actions Congress took to limit irresponsible corporate power was to enact the National Labor Relations Act in 1935. Congress wanted to give unions power to act as a stabilizer to corporate lawlessness and authority. In a recent post, the Voice Reporter points out that to this day, the House GOP has never given up the fight to weaken the NLRB's ability to affect change.
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| Woolworth strikers in the 1930's photo: Google Images |
Workers who cannot say no to unjust actions are no more than slaves and not free people; they are not citizens of a civil democracy. That is what we are fighting about-- this is what anti-labor forces aren't telling you. In the richest nation in the world, the American worker deserves respect, dignity, and the right to earn a living wage for an honest day's work-- nothing more, nothing less.
Unions will always play a role in American society
We make a grave mistake when we blame unions for just doing their job-- for being a counterweight to corporate or governmental power run amok. Both public and private sector unions have a legal obligation to be the disloyal opposition, so to speak. When there is no check on the steady growth of corporate power or political corruption, we lose the balance and equality necessary for a functional democracy to exist. Unions give workers the right of due process and equal protection under employment law-- something all patriotic Americans should admire and value.
Unions have a legal role here folks whether anti-labor forces like it or not-- CSEA has been around for over 100 years and we're not going anywhere.
The American people are hungry for our leaders to restore a vision for a national future founded on the premise that social justice and material prosperity are not competing values — that they can co-exist and are necessary to each other for a healthy, sustainable and growing economy. The sooner we recognize that, the better.
-Ove Overmyer
The opinions expressed here by Mr. Overmyer are the views of the author only and do not represent CSEA as an organization.
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