Labor Unions Are Struggling For Relevancy

Labor Unions Are Struggling For Relevancy
VIEW FROM THE RIGHT
Adam Sparks, Special to SF Gate
Monday, May 3, 2004

URL: sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2004/05/03/asparks.DTL


"I've heard administrators say they're going to buy vacuum cleaners for their teachers. No, they're not, because we'll throw them away. I don't mean to sound nasty, but that's against our contract. That's our job." -- Stan Webb, chapter president, California School Employees Association, Local 85

Well, Stan, it is nasty. And, at the same school board meeting at which he uttered this statement, according to The Contra Costa Times, he admitted to the board that the teachers would be lucky if his janitors vacuumed the classrooms as often as three times a month. Unions are adrift these days. They've lost their focus, and they're out of touch with both the public they serve and their own members.

The Decline of Organized Labor

The number of union members in the United States today is the same as it was in 1952, although the nation's workforce has more than doubled over the past five decades, to 121 million. Unions in this country are in crisis today, and they're well aware of it. In 1945, organized labor represented 35.5 percent of the nonfarm workforce. However, the number of union members fell in 2003 to a mere 12.9 percent, down from 13.3 percent the year before, according to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

So, why are unions in trouble?

There are several reasons. First, their image is not what it used to be. Stan Webb, the union chapter president quoted above, typifies the sentiment of many union leaders, who will fight to the death to keep their arcane work rules in place, even to the detriment of both their employers and their customers. In Stan's case, that's the Antioch Unified School District and its hapless students, who toil in dirty schools.

The public often thinks of organized labor as corrupt. For example, for an investment of just $3 million in campaign funds to then-Gov. Gray Davis and the Democrat-controlled Legislature in 1998 and 2002, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, the prison guards' union, is reaping a windfall benefits package of more than $2 billion.

Organized labor is still clearly the cornerstone of the Democratic Party's political base. Total labor contributions in the 2000 election cycle topped $83 million, with about 92 percent going to Democrats.

You would think it's the union members who demand this party loyalty. However, about 30 percent of them nationwide generally vote Republican and voted for President Bush.

Historically, businesses that want to get things done give more donations to incumbents, regardless of political affiliation. In California, however, to the surprise of many observers, business owners donate more money to Democrats, because they control the Legislature, and, until very recently, held the governor's office as well.

The business community, despite popular opinion, does not slavishly support Republicans. It's pragmatic. Lobbying by businesses has been so successful that they have managed to rework the entire U.S. tax code to benefit themselves. No, businesses and the wealthy by no means constitute a Republican block of money, or even votes. Some of the wealthiest business leaders, such as George Soros and heiresses like Theresa Heinz (John Kerry's wife), are giving millions to leftist political groups such as Moveon.org and the Tides Foundation. Meanwhile, much of organized labor has not yet learned how to get itself out of cigar-smoke-filled rooms, much less get any legislation passed.

Unions may have to start building bridges with conservatives if they ever want to grow their membership or chalk up successes beyond the headline-grabbing sweetheart contracts between themselves and government that are the result of political payoffs.

Jobs

Conservatives and unions want the same thing: the expansion of our economy and the creation of new jobs. They should work together whenever and wherever they agree. A perfect example is fighting for oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

In 2000, at a rally in Washington, D.C., in front of his union's headquarters, Teamsters President James P. Hoffa Jr. warned politicians that labor will "remember in November."

Hoffa declared: "ANWR provides expanded energy resources and increased work opportunities for Teamster members and their families. We cannot understand how so-called friends of working families can stand in the way of responsible job creation like [oil exploration in] ANWR, which already has bipartisan support to pass on a straight up-and-down vote." Hoffa gave a clear warning to both Democratic and Republican opponents of ANWR oil exploration, threatening that the Teamsters and the rest of organized labor would "hold those politicians accountable for their actions, which hurt working families. We can do no less."

Immigration

Although many organized-labor leaders take a very liberal view of unlimited illegal and legal immigration, many others do not. How could a massive influx of unskilled workers flooding the labor pool in any way help union members? Why do so many union leaders fall in lockstep with the radical Left on this issue? Could it be because so many of them are simply leftist ideologues who have risen to power in their unions and couldn't care less what benefits their members?

Level-headed labor leaders oppose President Bush's amnesty initiative. Referring to the Bush strategy as a "hollow promise," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney declared that "it creates a permanent underclass of workers who are unable to fully participate in democracy. The plan deepens the potential for abuse and exploitation of these workers, while undermining wages and labor protections for all workers."

Many conservatives and independents also opposed the plan. Here is an example of how organized labor and conservatives can agree and should be working together to help Americans first, getting our own house in order before we open up the floodgates -- particularly in this economy.

Trade

Organized labor also has not articulated a good solution to the rampant scourge of job outsourcing. Millions of middle-class jobs are now heading overseas: call-center jobs, technical and professional jobs, computer programming. What is the alternative solution that will help American companies compete while simultaneously being fair to consumers and workers? A tariff on imported products.

Many products come from Third World countries that have lax environmental laws and that exploit dirt-cheap labor. The only way an American company can compete is if the United States levies tariffs on imported goods. Conservatives who believe in America first -- not the garden-variety neo-globalists found in both major political parties -- will happily agree to work with organized labor to see reform in our trade policies.

As a matter of fact, it's already happening: About 30 state legislatures are in various stages of passing bills that would ban state contracts from being sent abroad (outsourced). In some states, such as Minnesota and Michigan, governors are passing executive orders to keep contracts in state, and others may follow suit. Twenty-eight governors are Republicans, and organized labor needs to make a concerted outreach effort to every one of them. Unions and conservatives should work together on this issue and many others.

City Contracts

Unions are also very successful on the municipal level. Their formidable funding, organizational talent and get-out-the-vote power have created a virtual stranglehold on most big-city politicians, and the rewards have been dramatic. For example, nearly every government contract in San Francisco, and most other big cities, must go exclusively to union contractors. In addition, municipal employees have wage levels and benefits, as well as work rules, that outclass those for similar positions in private industry.

There is one big exception to the domination of organized labor in the cities: when contracts go to nonunion, minority contractors. Ironically, this practice of benefiting minorities was outlawed in California when voters passed Proposition 209, the California Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI), in 1996, essentially banning affirmative action on the part of government. However, cities such as San Francisco still proudly ignore this part of the state constitution. Moreover, since then, S.F. city attorneys, who are charged with upholding the law, have brazenly helped defend the City against various legal efforts to enforce the proposition.

Union Reform

The unions are flailing about now, looking for relevancy. Flexibility, quality and efficiency are the keys to retaining customers and keeping American businesses operating. These, unfortunately, are not the goals of the AFL-CIO and the like. Organized labor has historically been adversarial to management in fighting for rigid workplace rules, but how can a company succeed and grow jobs when it is crippled by its own workforce?

Unions don't seem to understand that when a company fails to compete in the global marketplace because of brinkmanship-style negotiations with management; the result is that the businesses will fail, and jobs will be lost.

Organized labor must reform itself if is going to retain any meaningful role or relevancy in the 21st century. It should transform itself to be a fair, nonpartisan and innovative catalyst that protects the worker, but not at the expense of either the company or the consumer. All Americans would buy into that. Unfortunately, before that happens, unions will have to abandon their nasty, self-serving and bitterly partisan ideology and develop an effective forward-looking, generation-strategic plan that can be embraced by all. Don't hold your breath, though. They still have a very long row to hoe.
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Adam Sparks is a right wing conservative San Francisco writer.