Where Have All the Unions Gone

In the article, Where Have All the Unions Gone… Long Time Passing?, Richard Freeman discusses the diminished population of union workers in 2005 as compared to 1984. Richard gives three reasons for the failing unions: 1) management fights unions because they raise wages and benefits, lowering profits. 2) Union leaders failed to address declining union worker participation. 3) Workers decided that unions did not serve their best interest.

Freeman describes the opposition by management in the U.S. in discussing their tactics of barraging their employees with anti-union material, denying union access to workers and “forecasting” the employees job loss (one-in-five union organizers are fired as a result of their participation in union campaigns)(Freeman 847). This is quite different from the European management tactics where management is supportive of unions who generally make organizing their labor easier. Unions aren’t seen as much of a burden because the citizens already have universal health care and they already pay fair wages. The unions are failing to gain members and are losing support and gaining opposition through failed campaigns. While its evident that the more problems a worker has with the work place the more they show interest in organized representation more people are interested in non-unionized representation, more like a manager and employee open forum.

While support for unions may be low it seems to me from the research presented in this article that if the U.S. ever manages to establish universal health care that opposition by businesses may decrease. Coupled with the use of open-source unionism as suggested by the author who would use the internet as a cheap means of organizing and informing their union workers this could begin to bring back the unions. Unions are essential for not only helping equalize the workplace and help ensure the comfortable lifestyle of their workers but they benefit small businesses, a small business that cooperates with unions are more attractive to the potential employees because while they can’t compete with large corporations in the wage arena, unions help establish benefits and a comfortable work environment for their employees. They give power to the traditionally powerless in a very democratic fashion.

Anyone who’s read Nickel and Dimed would know that American companies traditionally exploit their low wage workers because they have no ability to barter, if they argue they can quickly be replaced… but if they have the force of a union behind their back they aren’t as dismissible. Low wage workers need protection especially concerning that someone who works full time at minimum wage should not live below the poverty line.