It’s Labor Day weekend, and time once
again to mention the problem with labor.
It’s conservative.
That’s right, everything about labor,
from the rank-and-file to the top brass, is inherently conservative.
As the legendary Samuel Gompers once said, they want “more,” but
mainly “more for the same.”
As the pace of change has accelerated
throughout the 20th century, this conservatism has killed
organized labor. Change means jobs have to change, that old jobs have
to go, faster-and-faster, much faster than any worker can go through
a “blue-collar” career, raising a family.
American labor unions were organized
either by craft or by industry. Those organized by craft were mainly
done in by machines. Those organized by industry were done in by
competition.
The only redoubts of organized labor
left are in government, where there is some element of stability, and
where pressure can be applied to keep the union-management
relationship stable.
But that area, too, is losing out,
because with so few people in an organized labor setting, political
support is lacking for the cost of maintaining stability, of keeping
things as they are, of remaining conservative.
I’m just an outside observer, but it
seems to me there is a model and organizational structure which
can support change, and support workers, in the 21st
century.
The AARP.
Anyone over 50 can join the AARP. They
become eligible for all sorts of benefits and discounts, which are
geared to their place in the market.
So why isn’t there an AAWP – an
American Association of Working People? Any non-manager could join,
in any industry, whether or not they were organized. The group would
seek discounts, benefits, and improvements in government policies on
behalf of its members.
Membership in AAWP would be entirely
voluntary. It would not be a union, representing workers in talks
with management on pay and working conditions. But it would provide a
means through which workers could discuss common concerns.
Local
chapters could then agitate for improvements through local and state
government. Workers who wished to organize could get part-way there
using AAWP online resources, and then the already-organized workers
could choose representation, the way corporations take bids on
contracts.
Workers of the world, unite.
The non-manager thing is a stumbling block. Too often corporations just reclassify key groups as managers just to break the power of the union. Your AAWP would need to come up with its own set of criteria to determine who is really Labor and in the end that may make things so convoluted and political it destroys the whole thing. Perhaps growing to monsterous size was the wrong approach for unions. It may be that the ideal union is a symbiotic organism tied to a particular corporation and with an ownership stake and seat on the board. Such narrow focus and depth of involvement may just produce a union that is not only beneficial to its members but also to the host corporation.
The non-manager thing is a stumbling block. Too often corporations just reclassify key groups as managers just to break the power of the union. Your AAWP would need to come up with its own set of criteria to determine who is really Labor and in the end that may make things so convoluted and political it destroys the whole thing. Perhaps growing to monsterous size was the wrong approach for unions. It may be that the ideal union is a symbiotic organism tied to a particular corporation and with an ownership stake and seat on the board. Such narrow focus and depth of involvement may just produce a union that is not only beneficial to its members but also to the host corporation.
hello, i really agree with you. i live in detroit, i am not in a union, never have been. but from what i see, the unions have NO imagination here, they are dependant on big corporations coming in and giving them jobs or keeping jobs. if there is talk of worker-owened companies, i have not seen it. there is a lot of talk about
“workers uniting”, as if they want to stay pure and not get their hand dirty with capital or management. i hope i am making sense, its very sad to see.
hello, i really agree with you. i live in detroit, i am not in a union, never have been. but from what i see, the unions have NO imagination here, they are dependant on big corporations coming in and giving them jobs or keeping jobs. if there is talk of worker-owened companies, i have not seen it. there is a lot of talk about
“workers uniting”, as if they want to stay pure and not get their hand dirty with capital or management. i hope i am making sense, its very sad to see.