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I am not an historian. In fact, when in college and taking History I decided I’d rather learn how to play pool at the Student Union. So most of my classes were spent learning the finer techniques of handling a pool cue stick.
Part of my difficulty with history is the date stuff. I’ve never been good at dates. But, truth be known, even with the few classes I actually attended, in addition to reading the text book, I did come away with a “feel” for what had happened and why. So, with transparency noted, I will continue with the current subject matter: Unions.
Much like women fighting for the right to vote, people fighting for unions had a hard, long journey that included their physical injury and death. What could they have wanted that the “business” owners didn’t want?
They wanted living wages. They wanted to get rid of the “company stores” where they had to spend what little earnings they had. They wanted not to work 16 hours a day or longer. They wanted their children in school and not out in the fields or in locked urban factories. They wanted safe working conditions so they wouldn’t lose a hand or leg, or their life. They wanted health care where there was none. They wanted a day off. Vacations came later. They wanted to be treated fairly and respected for the work they did. They wanted a chance to advance and make more money.
Their struggle resulted in Federal work laws that companies had to follow. Regulations increased after the Civil Rights movement to ensure all people regardless of race would be treated fairly. Even today, women are still fighting for equal pay and promotion.
All this was necessary because the people who owned and operated business (in general, there are always exceptions) wanted to make as much money as possible without regard to the people working for them. And that is still true today. I know from experience.
When I started working for a living I started as an hourly employee. I worked 40 hours a week, 5 days or more a week. No overtime. One half hour for lunch. One week vacation until I had been working for the same company for 10 years. Then it went up to 2 weeks. I believe there were 3 paid holidays. There was a minimum wage in effect and that’s what I got paid - $3.25 per hour.
Over the years the jobs I had went from 40 to 371/2 hours per week. Ten paid sick days, but if you took them you could be disciplined. And, then one wonderful day I was made a “middle manager” responsible for a department with 6 to 10 staff for 17 years. Yes, I received a raise. Yes, I got more vacation time. But, I also worked over 40 hours a week at times and did not get paid for it.
And then one year, a Union came to try and get our Nurses to join. It was a difficult time for me, since I “as Management” was not Union eligible and worse yet, was educated by Administration on how to legally discourage staff from voting for the Union. Everything about it made me sick to my stomach.
WISCONSIN UNIONS DEMONSTRATION
What I learned during that time: it was the Unions that had given me at least a minimum wage, vacation days, shorter hours, better working conditions, health insurance, more holidays and sick days. Unions had fought for those benefits and I was the recipient of those benefits – even though I never belonged to a union. Why was that?
To keep Unions from organizing at their companies, businesses bribed employees with benefits similar to the Unions. In many cases the bribes worked.
This is why the pundits analyzing the current situation are wrong when they say non-union workers don’t like union workers.
We know that the salary and benefits we non-union workers have are the direct result of the bargaining Unions have with their companies.
We also know that our future benefits depend on future Union negotiations. And, if those are taken away, leaving the Unions “busted,” companies will start taking benefits away. It is those benefits that created and sustained a new middle class. Without them the middle class will disappear. And, the owners who today get millions in bonuses will get even more millions. All at the expense of the workers.
The Governor of Wisconsin says he has to do this because of the budget deficit. I say bull hockey! Because prior to trying to pass the bill regarding Unions, he passed a bill giving businesses billions of dollars in tax credits.
Sorry Gov, you can’t do both. Not ethically, at any rate.
Solidarity Forever!
