Union busting: Right-wing media relentlessly attack worker representation
Media conservatives have waged a relentless war against labor unions, blaming them for a wide variety of problems and smearing them as "communists" and "thugs," among other attacks. However, experts have credited unions for establishing many of the "most fundamental and valued features of today's society" and "paving the road to the middle class for many millions of working families."Conservatives tend to like the old plantation model for the U.S. with powerless wage slaves at the bottom doing as they're told.
The blame game: Conservative media try to pin problems on unions
Beck says unions have "raped" police and fire fighters. On the August 4 edition of his radio program, Glenn Beck said of unions: "Look what they've done to the police and firemen. They've raped these guys. Along with politicians. Along with politicians -- raped them. The bravest among us." Beck went on to ask, "What, do you think the politicians are not in bed with the unions?"
Beck blames unions for woes of local governments and industries. On the February 25 edition of The Glenn Beck Program, Beck blamed unions for the financial woes of local governments, the auto industry, airlines, schools, the steel industry, and the textile industry. He continued: "Mr. President, until you get the unions out of this business, I don't think we have anything to talk about."
Experts credit unions for many "valued features of today's society," and greatly expanding the middle class
UC Berkeley Professor Shaiken: Labor movement "pav[ed] the road to the middle class for many millions of working families." In a June 2004 report, University of California-Berkeley Professor Harley Shaiken wrote that after World War II, "the labor movement forged the link between economic growth and rising wages," helping improve working conditions for both union workers and nonunion workers. From The High Road to a Competitive Economy: A Labor Law Strategy:
In postwar America the labor movement forged the link between economic growth and rising wages, paving the road to the middle class for many millions of working families. Unions did benefit their members, but union wage and benefit gains coursed their way through the economy aiding those who did not belong as well. The result was a more vibrant economy in which strong consumer-led growth led to a virtuous circle of prosperity and jobs. At the lower end of the pay scale, unions have been particularly critical in winning decent compensation for low-skilled workers who often have had few opportunities and less hope.
Author Philip Dine: "Unions have had a lead role in establishing many of the most fundamental and valued features of today's society." In his 2008 book State of the Unions: How Labor Can Strengthen the Middle Class, Improve Our Economy, and Regain Political Influence, journalist and author Philip M. Dine wrote:
Unions have had a lead role in establishing many of the most fundamental and valued features of today's society. The eight-hour workday, five-day workweek, paid vacations, retirement and health-care benefits, safety regulations, bans on sweatshops or child labor, protections against employment discrimination, and other workplace advances now taken for granted were the result of struggles -- invariably protracted, often bloody, and sometimes even deadly -- by workers and their unions.
Labor has also played an integral part in the expansion of the middle class, a phenomenon that helped define America and that has been key to assuring its political and social stability.
Nobel laureate Krugman links "strong union movement" to "strong middle class. In a December 2007 New York Times column, Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman wrote that America's "strong middle class" and "strong union movement" were "connected":
Once upon a time, back when America had a strong middle class, it also had a strong union movement.
These two facts were connected. Unions negotiated good wages and benefits for their workers, gains that often ended up being matched even by nonunion employers. They also provided an important counterbalance to the political influence of corporations and the economic elite.
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