Unions Are Not the Enemy: Anti-Union Employers Are the Enemy

Did you catch this part of the news that the Ford truck plant in Louisville will lay off 3,600 worker because parts aren't available from earthquake-devastated Japan?

Laid-off workers will get unemployment benefits and supplemental income paid by Ford under its contract with the United Auto Workers. In all, workers can expect to receive a paycheck worth roughly 65 percent of the gross amount they would have received had they worked next week, UAW Local 862 President Rocky Comito said Friday.

What do you think about that?

Do you think "Good for those workers, that they formed a union that protects them in bad times. Everybody should belong to a union."

Or do you think "Fucking union workers get all the special breaks. Unions should be illegal."

Karoli at Crooks and Liars:

What this twitterer said is something I'm suddenly hearing a lot, so I'm assuming it's the next new reason why everyone should hate unions. Frank Luntz really ought to consider doing some deeper research before going in this direction. This particular tweet was sent in response to the following question asked by another twitterer and passed along by me:

When did it become OK to hate teachers& firefighters &cops? When did this happen? Did CEO's rush into WTC as it collapsed?

Think about that answer. The answer is that hating is bad, but 80% of private workers don't have pensions, and resent union members who do.

Rhetorical question: Wouldn't it be better to join a union and strengthen it so more workers have pensions, rather than the other way around? Part of the reason union pension funds are struggling in the private sector is the drop in covered employees, which can be attributed directly to the demonization of unions and efforts to break them. But only a part is attributable to that.

The much larger reason for union pensions' underfunding -- public AND private -- relates to Wall Street.

SNIP

All of this is to affirm the original respondent's statement: Most private sector workers do not enjoy the right to a pension benefit in addition to Social Security. This is a problem that should unite people, not cause them to divide. A fact: Union members have better, more secure health and pension benefits than non-union members, whether in the private or public sector.

Ask any union member: "Do you think only current union members are entitled to the benefits they get for belonging to a union? Or do you want everybody to be in a strong union and have the same benefits?"

Union members know that employers who get away with underpaying and refusing benefits to their workers hurt all workers. Union members know that each new union member puts pressure on non-union employers to match union wages and benefits. Union members know that when employers demonize unions and try to pit non-union workers against union workers, the only winners are employers. Corporations and Wall Street.

Their answer to your question will be some version of this:

We all do better when we all do better.