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Parting Shots

By Wm. R. Lowry
Editor & Publisher, MiBiz
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note-able quotes
“... the absence of unions and their weakness that is inflicted by anti-union public policy depresses wages. The fact is that people who are not represented, in the service industries in particular, are the victims of policies which depress their wages.”
— Barney Frank

“The unions claim the deck is stacked against them when it comes to labor laws, but the truth is many private and public sector workers are forced to pay union dues as a condition of their employment, yet they have little say in how the unions spend their money.”
— Linda Chavez

“We’ve reversed the executive orders of the last administration that were designed to undermine organized labor. And we are going to keep on fighting to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. I don’t give up. I don’t quit. The AFL-CIO does not give up. It does not quit. That is a commitment that I am making to you. Thank you for the commitment that you’ve made to me.”
— Barack Obama

“Labor unions would have us believe that they transfer income from rich capitalists to poor workers. In fact, they mostly transfer income from the large number of non-union workers to a small number of relatively well-off union workers.”
— Robert E. Anderson, Just Get Out of the Way

“There’s a reason why incomes, wages, were stagnant for average workers, even while the costs were going up. And part of it had to do with the fact that we had a philosophy that said that providing help to workers, allowing them to collectively bargain, allowing them to negotiate for better benefits, that that all was something of the past instead of something we need for the future.”
— Barack Obama

glory days
Labor Day was first celebrated on Sept. 5, 1882 in New York City and subsequently declared a national holiday following the violent 1894 Pullman Strike. Gala parades and fun-filled picnics soon became an annual ritual as Americans paused to recognize labor’s contribution to the country’s prosperity.

Well, America isn’t feeling real prosperous these days, and this month’s annual Gallup Poll suggests that Labor Day 2010 celebrations, at least those in dwindling union households, will be downright gloomy in comparison to the festivities enjoyed during the glory days of organized labor.

Gallup first asked Americans to evaluate labor unions in 1936, at which time 72 percent  approved. The all-time high of 75 percent approval came in 1953 and 1957 surveys. Support for unions declined in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but mostly hovered around the 60 percent mark until last year, when it dropped below the majority level for the first time.

Earlier in August, a slim majority of 52 percent of Americans say they approve of labor unions, the second lowest approval rating in Gallup’s 70-year history of this trend, behind only last year’s 48 percent.

Union approval varies widely by political party affiliation — it is 71 percent among Democrats compared with 34 percent of Republicans and 49 percent among independents.
Gallup finds significantly more Americans saying they want labor unions to have less (40 percent) rather than more (29 percent) influence than they have today. Twenty-seven percent say their influence should stay about the same.

Regardless of their preference, Americans by a nearly 2-to-1 margin predict union influence will decline in the future. The poll finds 46 percent of Americans saying unions will become weaker in the future compared with 25 percent who say stronger. This general pattern has held constant since 1999.

“Yeah, just sittin’ back trying to recapture
A little of the glory of, well, time slips away
And leaves you with nothing mister but
Boring stories of glory days

Glory days, well, they’ll pass you by
Glory days in the wink of a young girl’s eye
Glory days, glory days”

— Bruce Springsteen

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