Labor Matters

31.1 Million people living in poverty in 2000

37 Million people living in poverty in 2004


45 Million people without health insurance in 2003

45.8 Million people without health insurance in 2004

Try not to let these numbers bother you. Try and pretend that George W. Bush is steering this country in the right direction. OK, give up? Yeah, me too.

What I would like to stress, however, is that George W. Bush is not the problem. He is a symptom of a much greater problem. We cannot, nor should we want to, lay all our problems at the chimps feet. The war against labor has been going on for some time and we are losing. Currently less than 12% of Americans are organized, and if you just count private sector employees that number falls to a dismal 8%.

Unions don't matter, though, right? Wrong. Consider the following by Patricia Sexton in her book The War on Labor and the Left: Understanding America's Unique Conservatism:

Is the United States better off without unions and striking workers? Not at all. By almost any measure, it is worse off. For instance, labor has played a key role in enacting and defending legislation of general public benefit, including social security, medicare and medicaid, education funding, unemployment compensation, occupational safety and health laws, mine safety and health laws, black lung disability funds, the National Labor Relations Act, minimum wage laws, civil rights legislation, and all progressive tax law. 29

In effect, labor in the United States, as elsewhere, has led in developing the nation's entire social welfare system and in pursuing a stable full-employment economy. In countries with weak unions, unemployment rates have generally been higher than in countries with strong unions, social welfare spending has been meager, and income inequality has been greater. 30 (Sexton 1991:24)

The Labor movement matters, and Americans are worse off because of our lackluster labor movement. Sexton makes some powerful arguments in her book. For instance she highlights the fact that our labor movement is devoid of any real political party, like the ones that exist in Europe and other parts of the world.

We are seeing the affects of a long and brutal war against labor. The results have not been good:

Taxes on the rich have fallen, and those on people of modest income have risen. Consumer debt has escalated, the national debt has climbed to the highest in the world, and the ability and willingness of citizens to pay higher taxes for needed public services have fallen. Meanwhile, conservative policies have increased the need for public spending.

This is across the board. Here in California--where we once had the best public school system in the country--we have some of the lowest per capita spending in the nation. And this from a state that has the sixth largest economy in the world. We have emergency rooms shutting down, libraries closing, our infrastructure from electricity grids to roads is in bad shape and getting worse. All this while the rich just keep getting richer.

If you've noticed our picture theme this month is labor. It's something I'll be writing more and more about. This Labor Day, while you're relaxing at the beach and grilling your veggie burgers, think about the labor movement and you can get involved.

Workers of the World: Unite.

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