The Death of Big Labor?

While watching Fox News after the passage of the Michigan right to work legislation to get the conservative perspective, I noticed a banner at the bottom of the screen which stated “The Death of Big Labor”.

As I thought about this it occurred to me that an axiom that we learn in school is “those that fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it”. 

Different stories have been running on MSNBC now declaring the death of the Republican Party. Certainly the Republican Party has shifted to its extreme right in pursuit of conservative purity. Recently Steven Colbert accurately pointed out that you have an equal chance of finding Bigfoot as you do finding a moderate Republican. For those that think the party won’t moderate back to center they obviously don’t study history. Parties move, albeit slowly, to current realities in order to win elections. One thing the pundits are discussing and which I agree with, is the damage the Republicans have done to their own brand will most likely cause a generational electoral shift. This will more than likely occur in the same manner as it did with the Roosevelt Democrats and the Reagan Republicans.  

What does that have to do with the death of big labor? Well, leading up to the Great Depression during the 1920’s the nation saw more and more restrictive and regressive labor laws enacted. Labor was on a slow decline, being declared dead, and unable to turn the tide legislatively. Ultimately the Depression took away comforts which caused a determination built from desperation in the labor force. This led to huge advances for Labor during the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. This period saw bloody and vicious battles with corporate America but led to the enactment of a host of labor laws that changed the landscape for working people in America. This period led to further the expansion of the middle class. The expansion of the middle class led to a period of great prosperity which also created the strongest country on the planet. At the height Unions represented about 35% of the workforce.

The current situation is certainly dismal for unions and the middle class in this country. For the first time in generations, the next generation is not forecast to do better than the previous one and Unions now represent only about 11% of the workforce. But as I see it there is hope for the middle class. A recent poll found that 58% of the workforce was open to the prospect of joining a union. In addition the recent Occupy Wallstreet movement gained more support than expected. Workers at Wal-Mart have started to push back and fast food workers in New York went on a one day strike. While these events have been largely dismissed by the conservative media (Fox News) I see it as the beginning of an awakening process. 

I don’t condone violence, but let’s be clear, if history tells us anything, it will escalate. People get violent when threatened. Fox has been airing video of a union supporter striking a correspondent to show that union members are nothing but thugs. Take away a person’s ability to provide for their family or themselves and you will see the same response. Yet even knowing this, Fox continues advocating these extreme policies. A t-shirt slogan I saw at Dulles on my arrival summed it up better than I ever could “Talk shit - Get hit”.

My fervent hope is that we can learn from history and change course now to secure the middle class before we enter a period of violence.  

For an interesting history on the birth of right to work legislation please read this; http://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/right-to-work