My wife passed an article on to me titled “Combatting
Negative Views of Unions: A Defense of Labor Studies”. The article was written several
years ago by Victor G. Devinatz a professor of management in the Department of
Management and Quantitative Methods at Illinois State University. He taught
courses in labor relations and human resource management at the time this
article was written. Here is a link to the article.
Professor Devinatz opines that it is time the history of the
labor movement as well as what unions currently do should be taught in schools.
This is a proposition I wholeheartedly endorse. The declining middle class can
be linked directly back to a decline in the unionized workforce in this
country. As the professor explains why this type of education is needed, he
spells out why unionized workers are mostly thought of in disparaging ways. He
points out that given union density it is unlikely that people learn about
unions at home. For me that wasn’t true as my father was a Teamster for most of
his working career and many of my relatives were also in unions. One of my
early memories of unionism is when the janitors in my elementary school went on
strike and the teachers supported them by refusing to clean the classrooms. I asked
my father about it and he explained that all the janitors were trying to do was
to improve their lives and the teachers were helping because in the future they
would rely on support from the janitors when it was their turn to bargain. My
dad went through a couple of strikes while I was growing up and he did very
well for his family. I learned that it is much better to stick together than to
stand alone, but to the professor’s point I didn’t really learn what unions do
until I became a member in my late teens.
Well what do unions do? For all of my adult life I have been
a member, steward or officer of various unions. Some of them were effective and
some less so. What unions do of course is provide a sense of balance and
security to the workforce. They do this by maintaining a grievance system that
allows workers the right to a voice in the workplace that they normally
wouldn’t enjoy. In addition they bargain collectively to provide fair
compensation and benefits for work performed. Unions that vigorously protect
their members rights through contract enforcement and negotiations while
progressively attempting to ensure that they are ahead of technology are
obviously more effective that those that do not. But that’s not all. As pointed
out in the professor’s article unions also provide benefits to companies. Specifically
the benefit of a happy secure workforce will produce more than one that is less
happy and less secure.
In an interesting aside the professor points out in his
article the use of the word workforce can even come with negative connotations.
After all who wants to be considered a worker, especially amongst college grads
or professionals? Well the truth of the
matter is doctors, lawyers, teachers and nurses among other professions have
organized segments. And really when you think about it why not? You do not need
to be a professor of labor relations to understand that we all do better when
we strive to achieve similar goals. Working together provides far more benefits
than going it alone. Many of us would like to believe that’s not true but it is
all the same.
I applaud the professor for his insights in this article and
hope his idea comes to pass.
This Labor Day please take time to reflect on the real
meaning of the holiday. A stronger labor movement ultimately means a stronger
economy and a stronger country as a result. Never forget – ours is a noble and
patriotic endeavor!
Happy Labor Day Brothers and Sisters.
