Unions are what make the Union
Unions Saved My Parents from Poverty and They Can Help Us All.
50501 CHICAGO'S first Op-Ed is here. We hope you enjoy.
Submitted by a 50501 Chicago member.
By M. Cross
I am writing this because the Trump administration issued an executive order on 3/27 which took away the collective bargaining rights of hundreds of thousands of government workers. Collective bargaining is how unions exist, it allows individuals to band together for their common interests. People have power when we stand together. This is a blow to the working class of the United States. This is also an attack on veterans as they make up around 30% of federal union workers. Utah recently spit in the faces of their firefighters by banning collective bargaining for public sector workers. I worry that more states will adopt laws like the one in Utah.
Before it is too late, I urge people to call Congress, get out in the streets and switch to E-dues if you’re in a federal union.
I have never been in a union but both of my parents were union workers, union reps and my mother was even a union steward at one point. Both of my parents grew up living in poverty in Chicago. My father did not have glasses which he needed or even a winter coat for a couple years because his mother simply couldn’t afford those things for him after his father died. My mother was 1 of 6 children, her parents emigrated from Mexico in search of a better life. My parents had rough upbringings and experienced gang violence first hand. As adults, they both joined unions, my father was a teamster and my mother was with AFSCME. They both retired after more than 30 years with their respective unions. They busted their asses to provide me with a good education and a future. Sadly, my father is no longer with us but he often said,
I was able to live the American Dream because of my union.
He was right.
The MAGA folks love to say they want the economy of the 50s when America was “great” but what made it great? I know one of the reasons the economy was booming in those days was the high rate of union membership which was around 35%, this period saw one of the lowest rates of economic inequality in our nation’s history. Unfortunately, union membership is now down to about 10% nationally and can be as low as 4 percent in some states. Union workers make 10% to 15% more than their nonunion counterparts. Union workers boost their communities by spending money in their communities. Minority households with union members have more than 3 times the median wealth of minority families without union members, that is a seriously impactful difference.
White households with a union member have nearly two times the median wealth of nonunion white households.
(CAP) Unions allow all of us to have better lives.
Union workers also have better health benefits, retirement pensions and work place rights. Without unions we would not have work place safety measures like OSHA. Workers literally gave their lives for these protections and this administration wants to remove them to help save the wealthy more money. People forget that the progress our society has made was paid for with the lives of our fellow human beings who were just like us. Growing up in a union household, I attended many May Day events over the years. Most people do not realize that we owe unions and those that lost their lives on May 4th, 1886 in the Haymarket Affair in Chicago for the 8-hour work day. I strongly encourage people to attend the May Day rally this year for workers’ rights, immigrants’ rights and LGBTQ rights.
Without unions, I fear the return of company towns. Company towns had a dark side. Workers were incredibly reliant on their employers for almost everything from housing to pay. They were paid in company dollars which they could only be spend at the company store. Unions were largely responsible for the fall of these towns. Now, Elon wants to build one in Texas. It seems like the current administration wants to make workers fully reliant on the wealthy for all aspects of daily life. Establishing company towns and dismantling worker protections is proof this administration of billionaires does not have the people’s interest at heart. We the people need to stop the rise industrial feudalism. The gap between the 1% and the 99% continues to grow. Instead it should be shrinking. Unions are the best tool available to us at the moment to narrow the wealth gap.
I genuinely believe unions are the best chance we have at reigning in corporate interests. If we want an economy the works for everyone and represents our people we have to make unions great again. We have to support our unions, we have to join them if they strike and stand with them in solidarity. They have done the same for us and will continue to do so. The only groups that can organize on the scale we need right now are unions. Let’s embolden them by standing hand in hand with them as they are our brothers and sisters.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_affiliation_by_U.S._state
https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/labor-unions-and-the-us-economy
https://www.seafarers.org/groundbreaking-report-underscores-how-unions-benefit-national-economy/
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/unions-help-increase-wealth-close-racial-wealth-gaps/
https://www.afge.org/article/afge-will-challenge-trumps-illegal-directive-outlawing-federal-unions/
https://www.hamptonthink.org/read/the-bosses-utopia-dystopia-and-the-american-company-town
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/24/us/starbase-texas-city-elon-musk-spacex.html
https://apnews.com/article/utah-governor-unions-collective-bargaining-76b1fe205aae7b4097c1d0b4a1a13cc6
Although I support Union membership I still remember quite well that a multitude of the UAW members voted for Trump and in fact still support the tariffs. So NO free ride for the UAW from me.