Self Destruction

Union thuggery was on grand display yesterday in Ann Arbor, and violent political rhetoric in full throat. I'm sad to see it. It's another step toward the demise of what was once and should still be a vital force for advancement of the American worker. Labor has become a movement caught in its narrow self interest, oblivious to the common good, often acting to the detriment of its members. 

It was understandable in the early days. Before WWII it was the company who had the power, and who employed the goons. strikes were regularly broken with brutal force. The company, with complicit government officials, was more than capable of seeing to its own interests. Unions necessarily focused on organizing and improving the lot of its members.

Something went wrong after the war. Unions began doing more harm than good. Membership peaked and began to decline. Workers began to see that a vote to unionize or strike just might mean a vote to drive the company out of business, taking jobs with it. Many proud names died. The New York Journal American, Eastern Airlines, and now Hostess Brands come to mind. Maybe they were mismanaged and would have failed in any case but strikes and unsustainable labor contracts played a role too.

The public began to see unions as villains. Elia Kazan's 1954 movie On the Waterfront depicting union corruption and violence struck a chord. I can't remember a film since then from even ultra liberal Hollywood that has put unions in a good light. Through the years one strike after another turned ugly. Last year's failed attempt to abolish the secret ballot through "card check" legislation was widely seen for what it was, an undemocratic move to intimidate workers who might not otherwise vote to unionize.

Today most union members are public employees. There too they have often shown little concern for the common good. Children remain trapped in failings schools while teachers resist all attempts at reform. Confronted with unsupportable salary and benefit costs, and reaching limits to taxing authority over tapped out citizens, many cities have begun to cut back services. Some have become ghost towns. Some have filed for bankruptcy. Some states appear about to follow.

The decline is accelerating. Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan are all states with long traditions of solid labor support. All have recently taken steps to rein in unions. All enjoy broad public support for the moves. Of the ten states with lowest unemployment and highest growth, all but one (Washington) is a right to work state. Of the ten with highest unemployment and lowest growth, none is a right to work state. People have begun to notice.

I don't begrudge anyone the right to join a union, though I do question the propriety of elected officials accepting campaign contributions from public employees, then voting to increase pay and benefits. But there is a reason for falling membership. Unions have not been responsible stewards of the enterprises their members depend on for livelihood. They have been slowly strangling the goose that laid the golden egg. They often benefit in the short term. We all suffer in the end.

If organized labor expects to survive it will have to change. Reforms will have to be real. This isn't a public relations problem. Issues are structural. Schools must Improve. Companies must thrive. Public services must come at costs tax payers can afford. The economy must grow and provide meaningful work for all comers, not just union members who already have a job.

Union management and rank and file should listen to some words of wisdom from the immortal Pogo. "We have met the enemy and they is us."