“From San Diego up to Maine,
in every mine and mill,
Where workers strike and organize
it’s there you’ll find Joe Hill,
it’s there you’ll find Joe Hill!”
“Joe Hill”, Date: 1936 ; Composer: Earl Robinson ; Text: Alfred Hayes.
Listen to Joan Baez sing “Joe Hill”.
This ballad, brought to life with that gorgeous, Baez soprano, still gives me chills. And listening to it now resurrects the need for solidarity with working people and their rights across the globe. Yes, I use the word “solidarity”, like Senator Bernie Sanders continues to use that word when he speaks about both the microcosm of workers organizing with a unified voice to demand better pay and working conditions, and the macrocosm of millions of Americans uniting and demanding changes to our government from the ground up.
Those with similar concerns and needs have long banded together to make their lives better, and that type of organizing is perhaps more important in today’s economy than ever. According to Federal Reserve data as of the second quarter of 2021, this is the first time “the total wealth of the top 1% has been higher than the middle 60% since the Federal Reserve began tracking this data in 1989”. There needs to be some serious pressure put on those in power to flip this inequality —and that’s where unions enter the picture.
I won’t discuss the history of unions in America or worldwide, although it is both a beautiful and sometimes bloody story. But what I will focus on is the growing income and wealth disparity in this country and how it coincides with the decline of union power.
Unions had their heyday in the 1950’s and 1960’s (when the economy was booming, corporate taxes were high, and this country had a real, robust and growing middle class), and began a decline in the early 1970’s, at the same time that income inequality began to rise. That decline in union power continued through the Reagan years (recall when President Reagan intervened and fired over 11,000 striking air traffic controllers), and unionization of both public and private sector employees remains low.
In fact, our laws regarding unions changed too. Specifically, a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled that states could not require “public employees who are represented by a union — but have chosen not to formally become members — to contribute to the costs of collective bargaining”. In effect, this decision partially defunded public employee unions and likely helped diminish their power.
In that same year, economists from Princeton and Columbia compiled and studied data that showed a strong correlation between increased union power and reduced poverty rates, and conversely, a decrease in the number and size of unions and increased poverty rates. This research did not distinguish between public and private unions, but rather focused on the overall impact of unionization.
Additionally, the study concluded that “unions can also affect the earnings of nonunion workers.” One way is when private company management sees unionized competitors (if that scenario still exists), raising employee wages, they tend to raise their employee wages to stave off a union movement in their company.
The working paper the economists produced, titled “Unions and Inequality Over the Twentieth Century: New Evidence from Survey Data,” showed that union workers today receive an average of 20% more in pay, a boost which has held steady since the 1930’s. Not only do unions have the power to negotiate higher pay for their workers, they also negotiate entire benefit packages, including health insurance, which raises the union members’ overall wealth. And for non-college educated workers, this was their ticket into the middle class.
Data from other studies, discussed in a 2021 article from Business Insider, demonstrate that just living in a state with high unionization rates lowers the chances of all of that state’s residents, union and non-union members alike, from sliding into poverty: “…states with higher unionization rates had average poverty levels about 7% lower than states with lower unionization rates”. In other words, unions help everyone, whether directly or indirectly.
Despite the heavy decline in union membership and power over the last forty years or so, and the corresponding rise in wage and wealth inequality, there might be a smidgen of hope on the horizon…
Progressive elected officials like Senator Sanders stand in solidarity with workers, literally marching on picket lines with union members as they strike to negotiate better wages, benefits and working conditions. And Senator Sanders and other prominent officials continue to call out the union-busting tactics of mega companies like Amazon and Walmart, some illegal, that prevent unions from starting altogether or interfere with workers’ votes to unionize under the collective bargaining rules.
If you are interested and have an extra hour, it’s worth it to see this virtual town hall hosted by Senator Sanders just a few nights ago. It features three unions that are currently striking, including the United Steelworkers Local 40 (where 450 members from Special Metals, a company owned by Warren Buffet), and other workers who are on strike in Alabama and California. What their companies offered them by way of negotiated contracts is shocking: lowering their wages and increasing the cost of their health care. The union heads do much of the talking, describing why they made the decision to strike, their negotiations and what they might need to do to get their wages and working conditions to meet even their bare minimum needs. This town hall is a must-see if you want to better understand what’s really going on between union workers and the companies they make rich through their labor.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=1572486033114354
Now is the time to talk about how you feel about unions and whether you’ve been a union member. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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Additional viewing: Harlan County, U.S.A
This Academy Award winning, 1976 documentary by Barbara Kopple is brilliant.
https://www.amazon.com/Harlan-County-USA-Norman-Yarborough/dp/B001XT4ZQC
The Power of Unions