Banana Bread French Toast
Maker of fine hand-crafted goods, lover of dogs cats and Steve, general kind person.
Many workers today do not see the purpose of a union except to siphon some of their earnings into supporting a bureaucratic structure ineffective in protecting the true interests of laborers.
It is true that union leadership has not always fairly represented those whom they are elected or appointed to serve. Also true are the cases where unions seem to unfairly protect incompetence or unproductive workers.
However, unions matter to ALL workers, whether they are direct union members or not.
If you are a contract employee, or an independent contractor, or being kept in a series of "temporary" jobs not eligible for benefits, you can thank--not "these economic times" but Ronald Reagan for your lack of full-time, stable employment.
In 1981, federal air traffic controllers declared a strike for better working conditions and pay. Reagan ordered the striking workers to return to their jobs under a clause of the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act that deemed the strike a "peril to national safety." Reagan fired 11,345 air traffic controllers who refused to return to work and banned them from federal employment for life.
Then-chair of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, in a 2003 speech at the Reagan Library analyzed the "Reagan Legacy":
…His action gave weight to the legal right of private employers, previously not fully exercised, to use their own discretion to both hire and discharge workers. There was great consternation among those who feared that an increased ability to lay off workers would raise the level of unemployment and amplify the sense of job insecurity.
It turned out that with greater freedom to fire, the risks of hiring declined. This increased flexibility contributed to the ability of the economy to operate with both low unemployment and low inflation. Whether the average level of job insecurity has risen is difficult to judge, but, if so, some offset to that concern should come from a diminished long-term average unemployment rate...
In 2003, it appeared Reagan's actions supported lower unemployment. Yet now in 2011 it is increasingly clear that gutting the ability to collectively bargain has resulted in cheapening of American labor and decreased quality of life for all workers.
The United States has a legacy of "rugged individualism" that makes us knee-jerk against things that seem to attack our freedoms. We tend to believe in the American Dream: that by working hard enough we can prosper, that we can be "self-made" men and women, that we deserve unfettered access to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." We, therefore, tend to value "at-will" working situations. This guarantees workers only the right to appeal to the benevolence of superiors when we have a grievance and only the right to quit without penalty.
Many of us see unions as a hinderance to our individual prosperity, protecting lazy or irresponsible workers from losing their jobs. I will not argue that such instances have not occurred. Many of us see unions as yet another bureaucracy that prevents us from freely negotiating our own true worth with our employers. I will not argue that union leadership has overstepped and forgotten itself on many occasions, let alone self-interested shop stewards lining their own pockets at the expense of true workers' rights. Many of us see unions as tools of greed instead of change. I will not argue against feeling envy at "well-paying" jobs with excellent benefits.
To be clear, leaders of organized labor unions have made mistakes such as distancing themselves from non-union employees, not maintaining a broad social focus, and supporting economic and political imperialism that helped permit exporting of jobs to countries with fewer worker and environmental protections.
Yet unions do not exist purely to bargain for increased wages. At their best, unions support the voices of workers in a system that depends on cheap labor and a labor surplus to keep wages down. This is part and parcel of how capitalism has formed in our economy (i.e., corporatism).
In a world where corporations have been afforded the legal status of individuals with respect to freedom of speech and continually seek constant growth of profits at the expense of our social, economic and environmental welfare, collective bargaining exists as one of the few remaining powers of workers.
Job security, presumption of innocence in employment matters, protection from "arbitrary and capricious" actions by management, up to and including protection from being fired for no cause are only some of the reasons organized labor benefits all of us. The concept of retirement benefits plus paid sick, vacation and holiday leave also stem from union organizing. If your job provides you with access to health insurance, life and disability insurance, it is because of union organizing.
If you have any of the following working conditions, you should know they are the direct result of union organizing:
-restrictions on child labor
-a minimum wage
-assistance if you become unemployed or unable to work due to age or disability
-representation on employee safety, quality assurance, and other important committees
-health care for on-the-job injuries
-family medical leave to care for yourself, your sick child, spouse or other family member
-protection against discrimination based on age, gender, national origin, ethnicity, race, and religion
-8 hour working day, 40 hour work week standard (instead of 12, 14, or 16) with five working days, instead of six or 6.5
-training to do your job
-mandatory breaks for bathroom and food
-protecting workers from exposure to hazardous chemicals, machinery, and working conditions
For this, and a myriad of other reasons, unions still matter.
Up Next:
Why What's Happening in Wisconsin (Indiana, Ohio, and other states) Matters
First time for everything.
So if I catch up for all the days that I just fell off the wagon for thing-a-day does it still count?
Here's the finished iPod armband that I started knitting on pick up sticks. I restarted it a couple of times and tried the pocket a few times as well to get it right. I like it, but it might need some refining, depending on how much it tightens up in the wash.
On Wednesday, I dabbled in Ruby, a programming language for about 40 minutes until my brain exploded. I haven't written a computer program since the Apple IIc made its way into my 5th grade classroom.
On Thursday, I solidified my ability to do grafting (aka Kitchner stitch), which is used to join two sections of "live" knitting still on the needles together. I used the TechKnitting visual explanation twice before but with ugly results. Yesterday I got it, proficiently.
I also attempted to learn how to do a long-tail cast on in rib-stitch, which makes for a nice and stretchy cast on. It was an atrocious mess, so I frogged it and started on an iPod armband. My circular needles were too long, and my double pointed needles are stashed at work, so I grabbed some pick-up sticks from the toy box. I may earn a McGyver knitting merit badge for this one.
This is my thing-a-day. It's a square for a Schuyler Blanket. It's more than 2 months over due. It's going in the mail tomorrow.
It's only incidentally Valentine's Day.
Today I got to spend the whole day with Ruby (almost two years old) and her mom and dad.
Here is a picture of what we saw.
