Why the Government Fears Unions

[one...two...tree 2,762]

By DAVID MACARAY

It’s been noted that the two U.S. industries (not counting defense) most dependent on government handouts are agriculture and ranching. Without federal subsidies and exemptions, these two bedrock industries would be all but unrecognizable, crippled, unable to function.

Yet, despite America’s farmers and ranchers having their snouts buried so deep in the government trough they have to come up gasping for air, they’ve managed to maintain an image of the self-made “rugged individualist.” Instead of comporting themselves as the corporate welfare recipients they are, they walk around like the Marlboro Man.

Cut it any way you like, but hypocrisy is hard to stomach. Whether it’s the vehemently anti-gay Republican congressman caught in bed with another man, or the televangelist who weeps real tears when talking about the glory of Jesus Christ, and is found to have embezzled millions of dollars from his ministry, people are disgusted by self-righteous deceit.

In Dante’s “Inferno,” where each of the descending nine levels of Hell is inhabited by increasingly vile sinners, Dante relegates the hypocrites and liars to a lower level than those guilty of homicide. Think about that. Almost 700 years ago, and an Italian poet had already figured out that the shameless, self-aggrandizing phony was more deserving of torture than the garden variety murderer.

The so-called Free Market is a breeding ground for hypocrites. Which is why I remind people that if they honestly believe making it on your own is a virtue—that old-fashioned self-reliance, without any handouts from Uncle Sam, is something to be truly admired—then there are only two groups worthy of our respect: labor unions and the Amish.

Not only do the feds not assist or subsidize unions, they go out of their way to impede them. They harass unions; they nag them, molest them, provoke them, shake them down. Whatever gains unions have made over the years have been achieved without assistance from the government. Indeed, the narrative history of organized labor has been one of struggle—the struggle to overcome government sabotage.

And don’t say passage of the historic Wagner Act “launched” the labor movement, because that’s a myth. Yes, the Wagner Act helped legitimize the labor movement, but it certainly didn’t create it. Wagner became law in 1935—more than 100 years after organized labor had already set down roots. Not only were strikes occurring as far back as the early nineteenth century, the first professional athletes union (International Brotherhood of Baseball Players) was already in place by 1886.

If we really want to see what the federal government has done to “help” labor, let’s look at the Taft-Hartley Act (1947). Taft-Hartley eviscerated the Wagner Act; it devoured it. It took out all the good parts. With one stroke of the pen, the Taft-Hartley Act rendered labor’s most dependable, bread-and-butter tactics illegal.

The truth is, the government fears and distrusts organized labor. Why? Because a powerful workers’ collective threatens the status quo. The federal government (and the corporations who run it) fear labor unions the way our country’s founders feared the common man, which was why they invented a device (the Electoral College) allowing them to circumvent the popular vote when necessary.

The government abhors unions. Consider the IBT (International Brotherhood of Teamsters). Fifty years ago, the Teamsters got mixed up with some very nasty, highly motivated mob figures. And even though that’s ancient history—the IBT is now a straight-up, respected, democratic union—the feds have never let them forget it. They like to pretend the Teamsters (in fact, all of organized labor) still have something to answer for.

Japan has been forgiven for Pearl Harbor; China’s been forgiven for its Communist revolution; major league baseball has inter-league play; the surfers have made peace with the ho-dads. Everybody’s been allowed a fresh start. Everybody except labor. Even today, if a Teamster shop steward in a New Jersey local so much as sneezes, some Junior G-man in Washington D.C. perks up his ears.

But the irony is so thick you can cut it with a knife. With the middle-class now under siege, organized labor isn’t the problem, it’s the cure. And it’s more than simple economics. It’s ethics. If Wall Street had been as law-abiding as our labor unions, there’s no banking collapse. If Wall Street had been as “honest” as the average American worker, there’s no crisis, no bail-out, no liquidation of financial institutions.

And if the Department of Justice had hounded investment bankers the way it hounds unions, the American taxpayer would have an extra trillion dollars to play with. Which would be enough to underwrite national health care. Now how crazy is that?

David Macaray, a Los Angeles playwright and author (“It’s Never Been Easy: Essays on Modern Labor”), was a former union rep. He can be reached at dmacaray@earthlink.net

[NickD 203]

But yet the most powerful union in our state is the teachers union, followed by the city workers union. Do not feel our government is concerned about these two very powerful unions, but the taxpayers sure are.

[Niels Bohr 72]

I don't like Unions. Sometimes the Union Leaders are very ignorant to the state of the matter, and make decisions that are detrimental to the entire workforce based on the ignorance.

Cities are in the financial hole, and unions are negotiating for raises without payroll cutbacks. So, many mayors decide to lay them off. Why? The city cannot afford to hire them. Then, the unions further on in time will not step down. The longer the negotiations, the more money the city had to payout which would mean either more layoffs.

If unions accepted payroll cuts at the very beginning during the times of crisis, many police officers, teachers, firefighters would have not been laid off. Union Leaders sometimes fail to make decisions based on the lesser of two evils.

[Kevin and 10]

Unions make up some of the top lobby groups in DC.

http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php

[SMR 368]

By DAVID MACARAY

It’s been noted that the two U.S. industries (not counting defense) most dependent on government handouts are agriculture and ranching. Without federal subsidies and exemptions, these two bedrock industries would be all but unrecognizable, crippled, unable to function.

Yet, despite America’s farmers and ranchers having their snouts buried so deep in the government trough they have to come up gasping for air, they’ve managed to maintain an image of the self-made “rugged individualist.” Instead of comporting themselves as the corporate welfare recipients they are, they walk around like the Marlboro Man.

Cut it any way you like, but hypocrisy is hard to stomach. Whether it’s the vehemently anti-gay Republican congressman caught in bed with another man, or the televangelist who weeps real tears when talking about the glory of Jesus Christ, and is found to have embezzled millions of dollars from his ministry, people are disgusted by self-righteous deceit.

In Dante’s “Inferno,” where each of the descending nine levels of Hell is inhabited by increasingly vile sinners, Dante relegates the hypocrites and liars to a lower level than those guilty of homicide. Think about that. Almost 700 years ago, and an Italian poet had already figured out that the shameless, self-aggrandizing phony was more deserving of torture than the garden variety murderer.

The so-called Free Market is a breeding ground for hypocrites. Which is why I remind people that if they honestly believe making it on your own is a virtue—that old-fashioned self-reliance, without any handouts from Uncle Sam, is something to be truly admired—then there are only two groups worthy of our respect: labor unions and the Amish.

Not only do the feds not assist or subsidize unions, they go out of their way to impede them. They harass unions; they nag them, molest them, provoke them, shake them down. Whatever gains unions have made over the years have been achieved without assistance from the government. Indeed, the narrative history of organized labor has been one of struggle—the struggle to overcome government sabotage.

And don’t say passage of the historic Wagner Act “launched” the labor movement, because that’s a myth. Yes, the Wagner Act helped legitimize the labor movement, but it certainly didn’t create it. Wagner became law in 1935—more than 100 years after organized labor had already set down roots. Not only were strikes occurring as far back as the early nineteenth century, the first professional athletes union (International Brotherhood of Baseball Players) was already in place by 1886.

If we really want to see what the federal government has done to “help” labor, let’s look at the Taft-Hartley Act (1947). Taft-Hartley eviscerated the Wagner Act; it devoured it. It took out all the good parts. With one stroke of the pen, the Taft-Hartley Act rendered labor’s most dependable, bread-and-butter tactics illegal.

The truth is, the government fears and distrusts organized labor. Why? Because a powerful workers’ collective threatens the status quo. The federal government (and the corporations who run it) fear labor unions the way our country’s founders feared the common man, which was why they invented a device (the Electoral College) allowing them to circumvent the popular vote when necessary.

The government abhors unions. Consider the IBT (International Brotherhood of Teamsters). Fifty years ago, the Teamsters got mixed up with some very nasty, highly motivated mob figures. And even though that’s ancient history—the IBT is now a straight-up, respected, democratic union—the feds have never let them forget it. They like to pretend the Teamsters (in fact, all of organized labor) still have something to answer for.

Japan has been forgiven for Pearl Harbor; China’s been forgiven for its Communist revolution; major league baseball has inter-league play; the surfers have made peace with the ho-dads. Everybody’s been allowed a fresh start. Everybody except labor. Even today, if a Teamster shop steward in a New Jersey local so much as sneezes, some Junior G-man in Washington D.C. perks up his ears.

But the irony is so thick you can cut it with a knife. With the middle-class now under siege, organized labor isn’t the problem, it’s the cure. And it’s more than simple economics. It’s ethics. If Wall Street had been as law-abiding as our labor unions, there’s no banking collapse. If Wall Street had been as “honest” as the average American worker, there’s no crisis, no bail-out, no liquidation of financial institutions.

And if the Department of Justice had hounded investment bankers the way it hounds unions, the American taxpayer would have an extra trillion dollars to play with. Which would be enough to underwrite national health care. Now how crazy is that?

David Macaray, a Los Angeles playwright and author (“It’s Never Been Easy: Essays on Modern Labor”), was a former union rep. He can be reached at dmacaray@earthlink.net

I thought this was going to be an article about the Amish, but I guess that was just a snide, backhanded remark.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

David Macaray, a Los Angeles playwright and author (“It’s Never Been Easy: Essays on Modern Labor”), was a former union rep. He can be reached at dmacaray@earthlink.net

Perhaps Mr. Macaray should stick with fiction, as this commentary is full of it.

[mawilson 2,133]

Not only do the feds not assist or subsidize unions, they go out of their way to impede them. They harass unions; they nag them, molest them, provoke them, shake them down. Whatever gains unions have made over the years have been achieved without assistance from the government. Indeed, the narrative history of organized labor has been one of struggle—the struggle to overcome government sabotage.

I wouldn't say that. Unions are very much in bed with the government.

[Heracles 417]

Unions? The same organizations that are run by organized crime and ruined various cities and industries like Detroit. Name the worst performing industry in America: aviation. They are heavily unionized. A friend of my wife's moved to the NE and cannot get a job as a teacher, until the local union accepts her. ####### is that #######? Are we are democracy or a dictatorship. Is that what American unions call looking out for workers?

I support the notion of Unions but certainly not what American unions are doing and allowed to do. Aussie unions stand up for working conditions, unfair dismissal and fair pay. They do not tell an employer how to run their business and would never decide who is hired or fired. Furthermore, no such thing as xyz union shop there. Let alone mandated unions card to get anything or even employed. American unions are why the NE, like NYC, are absolute shitholes.

Edited October 21, 2009 by Booyah!

[lostinblue 1,989]

I am missing something .....just what is the relationship with farming and unions? there seems to be a disconnect. This man is a flake . Airlines,auto, teachers unions. Some of the largest unions in the country and all industries receive a failed grade.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I am missing something .....just what is the relationship with farming and unions? there seems to be a disconnect. This man is a flake . Airlines,auto, teachers unions. Some of the largest unions in the country and all industries receive a failed grade.

Or, some creative editing. Where is the link?

[Sofiyya 1,687]

This government has it's own union, the SEIU, which was started by the same man that started ACORN. It's also in bed with teachers' unions and labor unions.