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Corrupt Political Process, Not Labor, is to Blame |
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by Ed Garvey
(No verified email address) |
02 Aug 2005
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It's time to point fingers at the real culprits who continue to work against working families. The enemy is not John Sweeney, nor is it Andy Stern. Our corrupt political process is the villain. |
I might feel better if I could get angry with Service Employees International Union President Andy Stern and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, the two veteran union leaders who are on opposite sides of the dispute over the future of the House of Labor.
Our motto at fightingbob.com says a lot. "Is this a private fight or can anyone join in?" Private or not, we will all feel the impact of this split in labor if organized labor is weakened. If I could choose a side with the certainty that my side was right, I might feel better. But it doesn't seem that easy.
By now everyone knows the House of Labor is in disarray. SEIU, the Teamsters, the food and commercial workers and the laborers walked out of the AFL-CIO, taking with them millions of members and millions of dollars. I have seen nothing that would lead me to conclude the rank and file had a right to vote on either side, so it was a top-down decision on both sides.
Why is labor in trouble? Significant road bumps have been placed in labor's path, starting with the fact that labor got the short straw in the post-Watergate reforms when political action committees were created.
For example, the United Auto Workers union was allowed only one federal PAC, but there could be any number of corporate PACs among industries organized by the United Auto Workers. Same for the International Association of Machinists. Every airline could have a PAC, and each could pledge $5,000 to a candidate for Congress. If there were 20 airlines, that could mean $100,000 to the candidate while the IAM could give only $5,000.
No matter how committed to working families the candidate is, the 20-1 money ratio cannot be ignored. Is there any wonder that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce or its Wisconsin affiliate, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, opposes reform of this loaded dice game?
Big business figured out in the mid-'70s that it was profitable to violate labor laws because there are no real penalties for anti-union actions but the rewards were great. No union, no raise, more profit.
If a company fires an employee for organizing a union, that violates the law. When the organizer is fired, the union will file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. The board will investigate, hold a hearing and make a ruling. That takes time. During that time the remaining employees are intimidated with "You are next!" If the board acts favorably, the employee will be reinstated with back pay (less the money earned during the investigation).
That process typically takes more than a year and can take five or even 10 years when appealed. Impact on the organizing campaign? Devastating. Advantage to law-breaker.
Another tactic makes organizing difficult. A union is formed, a secret ballot election is conducted, and the union is elected to represent the employees. Management drags its feet, replaces pro-union workers with anti-union employees, and refuses to bargain in good faith. Two years later the employer claims the union no longer represents a majority of employees, and even the pro-union employees are frustrated that they don't have a collective bargaining agreement. The employer challenges the union, a new vote is held, and - voila! - the union loses. The company remains union-free.
The penalty for not bargaining in good faith as the law requires? Nothing.
The second time labor got left behind was in the mid-1970s when Labor Subcommittee Chair Frank Thompson pushed for labor law reform that would put teeth in the laws governing collective bargaining. It sailed through the House but lost by one vote in the Senate. The holdout was Russell Long of Louisiana. One vote, and it would have guaranteed triple back pay for the fired employee and real penalties for not bargaining in good faith. And organizing would have been simplified and made much easier.
But that was 30 years ago, and labor law reform has never come back to Congress - not by Republicans for certain, but Democrats have also been timid. Today organizers are at the mercy of the union-busting specialists and lawyers.
So while I'd like to blame John Sweeney for labor's problems, it isn't his fault. The laws are stacked against unions because big money controls our politics and labor cannot compete.
While labor leaders point fingers at one another, they should pause and ask how it can be that after hundreds of millions of dollars spent on politics, and millions of phone calls, door knocks and demonstrations, that not one bill has become law that helps workers organize since FDR lived in the White House? Is that possible? Unfortunately, yes.
I wish both sides well in this dispute. Wages are stuck, pensions are being destroyed by major corporations, and CAFTA, NAFTA and GATT are destroying our manufacturing base. If American workers ever needed a strong labor movement, it is now.
It's time to point fingers at the real culprits who continue to work against working families. The enemy is not John Sweeney, nor is it Andy Stern. Our corrupt political process is the villain.
Ed Garvey, the Democratic nominee for Wisconsin governor in 1998 and a Capital Times columnist, is a veteran labor lawyer.
© 2005 Capital Times
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