Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

  • Shop
  • Subscribe to BMG
  • Contact
  • Log In
  • Front Page
  • All Posts
  • About
  • Rules
  • Events
  • Register on BMG

Union Friday the Second

March 24, 2006 By shai-sachs 4 Comments

Starting off with national developments:

  • Via the Workers Independent News, the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that union membership increased tremendously last year.  Labor unions organized a net 213,000 new union members last year, holding overall union density steady at 12.5 %.

    I can’t overstate the importance of these numbers.  For the first time in over a decade, we can now say that union membership is not on the decline.  All the gloom and doom talk about the inevitable extinction of labor unions (which I’m sure we’ll hear plenty more of for a while to come) is a mere corporatist fantasy.  Hopefully, when we look back in another decade, we will realize that the year 2005 was a turning point in the US labor movement.

    Working Life gives some insight into the strategy behind these numbers.  More and more unions are turning to the card check process instead of the NLRB process.  With the card check process, employers agree to recognize a union if at least 50% of the eligible employees sign cards indicating their willingness to join. With the NLRB process, the union forces a binding vote on unionization by collecting cards from 30% of the eligible employees.  The union is recognized (whether or not the employer agrees) if a majority of workers agree to unionize.  In practice, the card check process tends to stifle employer opposition and anti-union tactics much more so than the NLRB process.

    Republicans in the House, led by Charlie Norwood (R-GA) are trying to close off the card check route.  On the other side, there is legislation pending to make card checks the route to unionization even without the employer’s agreement.  The latter bill will never see the light of day as long as Bush is President.  One thing we can do in Massachusetts is to pass similar legislation.  Such legislation would instantly make Massachusetts the most pro-labor state in the country.

    By the way, in case anyone’s counting, here are some off-the-cuff calculations based on very simplistic assumptions: last year’s round of organizing will bring in around 140,000 new Democratic votes and will provide the labor movement with about $77 million more in union dues.

    Now what was the margin of victory in Ohio in 2004?  I can’t seem to remember.

  • Change To Win is putting together a “Make Work Pay” campaign scheduled for the last week of April.  The campaign is a massive 2,000-organizer, 35-city affair, targeting public awareness as much as it targets corporate policies.  The goal is to align the labor movement with the middle class.  At its convention in Las Vegas, the labor federation set up “cross-union campaign teams” whose jobs are to coordinate organizing across unions in each of the 35 cities:

    Breakout sessions are being held to allow each of the teams to determine what targets they should concentrate on in their individual cities or states. …”We are creating a new model for cross-union organizing,” [CTW Chair Anna] Burger said. The goal of the teams will be to create strong local organizations that include unions as well as community activists that will have the power to let employers know that when they oppose any group of workers that is trying to organize, they will not be confronted by one union, but by seven unions that represent nearly 6 million workers.”

    It’s hard to say how much of this is press release gobbledygook and how much will actually result in new union members.  Working Life appears unconvinced so far.

    By the way, did you notice the number of organizers involved?  2,000.  According to some estimates, that is the number of movement conservatives and apparatchiks employed by the vast array of conservative think tanks, leadership institutes, and politburos, nationwide.  I don’t think the numbers are directly comparable, but it’s an interesting coincidence.

  • Following the formation of an AFL-CIO Industry Coordinating Council that focuses on organizing nurses, the United American Nurses have announced the creation of an $8 million fund dedicated to organizing.

  • The Center for Union Facts, a virulently anti-union corporatist website, was launched a few weeks ago.  The AFL-CIO posts a hilarious take on this inaccurate slam site.

… and if you think that’s plenty, check out your Massachusetts labor movement:

  • David at Blue Mass Group points to the possibility of a Boston-area transit strike if the MBTA and its unions can’t agree to a contract by June 30.  Let’s hope that the two sides do agree to a contract, although bear in mind that the transit workers in New York showed that commuters will support the union under almost any conditions.  Despite perhaps the worst possible timing, polls showed that New Yorkers, including low-income New Yorkers, strongly supported the transit workers.

    David’s take appears to be that the transit workers are already getting a plum deal and shouldn’t complain, but I beg to differ.  They are working hard and getting pretty decent middle-class salaries (around $55,000), that’s true – but isn’t that the way it’s supposed to work?  Hard work should be rewarded by good, decent salaries.  The current contract contains anemic raises – 0%, 2%, 3% and 4% in years 1-4, respectively.  And don’t forget, inflation averages right around 3% a year, so really the workers don’t see a pay raise until year 4.

    One thing I hope the workers and the T agree to is a 5-year contract.  It’s clear that the Governor’s race will provide a major X-factor in these negotiations.  So why not schedule the next expiration until after the next Governor’s race?  The political landscape will be a lot more stable at that point, and both sides will be able to negotiate with a better understanding of their respective positions.

  • The Right to Organize campaign continues at Harvard.  The deadline for Harvard to respond to the Student Labor Action Movement’s list of demands has passed, but you can still sign their petition (as I did).

  • Carpenters Local 40, one of Cambridge’s feistiest and most active locals, is demanding that a new housing development in Cambridgeport use union labor or face a string of picketing carpenters.  State Rep. Marty Walz and City Councillor Tim Toomey are behind the carpenters.  One of the investors on the project, interestingly, is Bruce Herzfelder, a Republican who worked for the Romney administration.  A major question for the union is whether the Board of Zoning Appeals will allow the project to continue, in light of stiff opposition from a neighborhood group.

  • The Massachusetts Nursing Association is protesting low staffing levels at Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, according to Workers Independent News.

Over at Blue Mass Group, Charley on the MTA asks why labor appears to be so marginalized in state politics.  I’d like to think it’s because they are busily organizing away.  Certainly Change to Win has its hand full these days, with m
ajor campaigns including the Hotel Workers Rising effort and SEIU’s campaign to organize security guards.

As for the governor’s race, my guess (and probably that of every armchair pundit) is that labor will side for the most part with Reilly in the Governor’s race.  The fact that Reilly recently announced his support for indexing the minimum wage to inflation in Massachusetts, and Patrick didn’t, probably doesn’t help Patrick’s cause much.  I still think Patrick could pull a Nixon-in-China on a really crucial issue, like a private sector card check law, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Please share widely!
fb-share-icon
Tweet
0
0

Filed Under: User Tagged With: afl-cio, card-check, change-to-win, labor-movement, national, union-friday, unions

Comments

  1. daves says

    March 24, 2006 at 7:47 pm

    You didn’t mention the Globe article about teaching hosptials.  I think we can all be proud that SEIU blocked the construction of Yale New Haven’s cancer center for years.

    Log in to Reply
  2. peter-porcupine says

    March 25, 2006 at 7:50 am

    Has any union ever endorsed anyone but the Democrat candidate, no matter how inept or corrupt they might be?

    <

    p>
    And if a union endorsement is just an automatic Democrat perk – why the hell should we care what they think?

    Log in to Reply
    • cos says

      March 25, 2006 at 11:04 am

      It’s rare that Republican candidates have more pro-labor issue stances than Democrats, so it’s consequently uncommon for unions to endorse Republican candidates, but it does happen.  Particularly in Massachusetts governors’ races, we sometimes see some unions endorsing the Republican.  Now, if Republican legislative candidates were to start coming out in favor of, say, increasing the minimum wage, or card check legislation, or expanding health care access for low wage & part time workers…  then we might see more union support for them.

      <

      p>
      Secondly, just because unions (rightly) rarely support Republicans, doesn’t mean their support is an automatic Democratic perk.  The governor’s race is an exception, in that it’s too important for any organization to stay out of, when the legislature is a lot more important.  And in campaigns for legislature, or for mayor & city council, or for other state offices like DA and Attorney General and Secretary of the Commonwealth, a) sometimes many unions don’t endorse anyone, and b) more often than not, the important elections are democratic primaries or nonpartisan municipal elections, usually pitting Democrat against Democrat – so the question is which Democrat each union will endorse.  A candidate has to do more than run as a Democrat, they have to be worthy of a union’s support, at least in the eyes of that union, to get the endorsement.

      <

      p>
      But, finally, the real answer to “why should we care what they think”, is that it’s not just about election campaigns.  Even if you don’t care which candidates win, or see unions as always backing the candidate you don’t prefer, or whatever, note that only portions of what Shai wrote here relate to unions’ roles in election campaigns.  Unions do a lot more than that, and they affect all of us.  The wages and contracts they negotiate set standards that drive everyone else’s employment status with them.  They lobby for legislation that affects us.  In extreme cases, they (and management) can cause strikes which may affect us.  Unions may indirectly raise our pay, change the laws, or enroll our friends.  Whatever your personal political position and/or lack of direct involvement with unions, they do affect you, and following what they do is no less important than following the various candidates Blue Mass Group covers.

      Log in to Reply
    • david says

      March 25, 2006 at 11:11 am

      The firefighters’ union that just endorsed Tom Reilly had endorsed Paul Cellucci over Scott Harshbarger in the 1998 Gov’s race.

      Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recommended Posts

  • Progressive Mass Shouldn’t Back Stupid Primaries (2)
  • Shout this til November (1)

Recent User Posts

Shout this til November

August 19, 2022 By fredrichlariccia Leave a Comment

Zero Net Energy – August 2022

August 18, 2022 By gmoke Leave a Comment

Liz

August 17, 2022 By johntmay 5 Comments

Progressive Mass Shouldn’t Back Stupid Primaries

August 12, 2022 By jconway 12 Comments

There Is Not A Chance the White House is Happy With This Timing

August 10, 2022 By terrymcginty 8 Comments

Site issue: Unable to reply to comments

August 10, 2022 By SomervilleTom 4 Comments

Recent Comments

  • jconway on LizTake it from an expert, third parties are doomed to fail…
  • jconway on Progressive Mass Shouldn’t Back Stupid PrimariesPost the interview online and let voters judge for thems…
  • johntmay on LizAs the news of Mar-a-Lago unfolds, and the economy impro…
  • johntmay on Liz“the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Kautilya, the Hind…
  • SomervilleTom on Progressive Mass Shouldn’t Back Stupid PrimariesAs I've said several times already, the commentary on th…
  • Keith Bernard on Progressive Mass Shouldn’t Back Stupid PrimariesI was on the interview with Rep Vitolo. He was outwardly…
  • Keith Bernard on LizFirst of all, gross. While I appreciate Ms. Cheney's cou…

Archive

@bluemassgroup on Twitter

#mapoli

lowellcouncilor Darius Mitchell_ Massachusetts Governor 2022 🇺🇸 @lowellcouncilor ·
1h

The TRASH, WEEDS, & POTHOLES around Lowell?

WHY DOES Lowell look 👀 so BAD as I walk THRU the city?

THE CITY LOST THE @LowellSun. AIDEN GLOBAL CAPITAL CUT THE STAFF. MOVE THE PAPER TO WESTFORD!

LOWELL NEEDS A STRONG LOWELL SUN, THAT HAS A LOCAL OWNERSHIP GROUP & CEO! #MAPOLI

Reply on Twitter 1560805370808995840 Retweet on Twitter 1560805370808995840 Like on Twitter 1560805370808995840 Twitter 1560805370808995840
ialera98 Isabelle Alera @ialera98 ·
1h

Really lucky to be working on ending the backlog of rape kits in MA with @Rep_Higgins #mapoli

WCVB-TV Boston @WCVB

Inside the State Police Crime Lab and the effort to identify rapists https://www.wcvb.com/article/inside-the-state-police-crime-lab-and-the-effort-to-identify-rapists/40944441?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot

Reply on Twitter 1560804025112662019 Retweet on Twitter 1560804025112662019 Like on Twitter 1560804025112662019 1 Twitter 1560804025112662019
rwwatchma Trump's election fraud hoax undermines democracy @rwwatchma ·
1h

Federal judge decides parts of DeSantis' #StopWokeAct violate 1st Amendment rights.

"From a political standpoint this is the worse I've seen in all my years. This is the biggest attack I've seen on the freedom of the classroom."-Mr.Falls, FL Social Studies teacher #maedu #mapoli

The New York Times @nytimes

A key part of Florida's "Stop WOKE Act", signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis this year, was blocked by a federal judge after a lawsuit argued that its limits on discussion of racial bias during private employers' diversity training was a free speech infringement. https://nyti.ms/3R0GG3L

Reply on Twitter 1560803482617225221 Retweet on Twitter 1560803482617225221 Like on Twitter 1560803482617225221 Twitter 1560803482617225221
qpalfrey Quentin Palfrey @qpalfrey ·
1h

Great to celebrate with the Somali community in Roxbury this evening. Thank you for having me! #mapoli

Reply on Twitter 1560803108330131461 Retweet on Twitter 1560803108330131461 Like on Twitter 1560803108330131461 1 Twitter 1560803108330131461
headlineoptics Headline Optics @headlineoptics ·
1h

Vandalizing pregnancy center ‘for giving out diapers’ is ‘a bit much,’ director says https://www.masspolicyreport.com/2022/08/19/vandalizing-pregnancy-center-for-giving-out-diapers-is-a-bit-much-director-says/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter @masspolicy #MApoli #Massachusetts

Reply on Twitter 1560802060668243968 Retweet on Twitter 1560802060668243968 Like on Twitter 1560802060668243968 Twitter 1560802060668243968
rwwatchma Trump's election fraud hoax undermines democracy @rwwatchma ·
1h

.@NewRepublic:

There are ample signs that we are in the midst of a return to overt QAnon appeals https://newrepublic.com/article/167437/qanon-goes-washington#Echobox=1660842425 #mapoli #nhpolitics #copolitics #gapol

Reply on Twitter 1560800889115402240 Retweet on Twitter 1560800889115402240 1 Like on Twitter 1560800889115402240 Twitter 1560800889115402240
Load More

From our sponsors




Google Calendar







Search

Archives

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter




Copyright © 2022 Owned and operated by BMG Media Empire LLC. Read the terms of use. Some rights reserved.