It’s not Us against THEM!
It is a common mistake that too many people make thinking that unions are opposed to corporations or businesses earning profits. Nothing could be farther from the truth; unions cannot survive without profitable businesses. The problem is that while many businesses are making record profits, they demand fewer benefits and less pay for their workers.
Whether it’s construction, manufacturing, agricultural or service sector jobs, working men and women have been toiling away for generations to make ends meet for their families while the rich have gotten richer and the gap between the workers and the wealthy has gotten bigger. According to the Economic Policy Institute since 1979 the pace of annual pay increases for the top 1% wage grew 138% while wages for the bottom 90% grew 15%. The problem isn’t the greed of union workers. It’s laws that create an unfair playing field that gives corporations the power to force American workers to compete with workers in third world nations, many of whom use child labor for jobs that were once done by workers here in the USA.
In 2009 the United Auto Workers (UAW) took huge concessions that helped Ford avoid bankruptcy and allowed Chrysler and General Motors to use the Bridge Loans secured by President George W. Bush and guidelines put forth by the Obama administration to exit bankruptcy and regain profitable status. The concessions by the UAW and the restructuring of the American auto industry by the Obama administration are proof that we can work together. At the time the CEO of Ford Motor Company Bill Ford told CNBC, “When we got into a really tough period, I sat down with Ron (Gettlefinger President of the International United Auto Workers Union) and I said, ‘you have to help me save the Ford Motor Company so we didn’t have to go through bankruptcy, so we didn’t have to get a federal bailout,’” Ford said. “And he did that.” Ford credited the union with helping his company regain a foothold in the North American market. He added that the UAW helped the entire industry “get back on its feet.””
President Biden recognizes the contributions to America’s economy that unions provide. He also knows the importance of making sure that unions have a seat at the table. The president is right; it was unions that brought him to the dance and so far, he hasn’t forgotten it.
