FALL OF ORGANIZED UNIONS AND EXPLOITATION OF WORKERS
In the last few decades, the continuous decline in the membership and social, economic, and political influences of organized unions has raised significant questions as to whether workers will be increasingly exploited by employers due to the lack of balance of power. The economic exploitation of workers is an unethical action on the part of businesses and has resulted in the halt of progressive America starting in the Great Depression. The prevention of progression is highly unethical which generates no social value for current and future generations.
The return of business' economic and political influences in the turn of the century have rendered it so powerful that they have crippled a healthy democratic process whereby people could develop and implement new laws to make the system work for everyone. In January 2013, total union membership fell to a 97 years low of 11.3 percent of all workers in the United States from a peak of 35% during the 1950s (Greenhouse, 2013; p. 1). A large portion of the 11.3 percent is the shrinking public sector. The alarming drops in union memberships are in local government and manufacturing where unions once had a strong influence over in the last century. Government's pro-business stance in the attempt to balance the budget is one major contributing factor to the dramatic decline of unions in the public sector. As a result of its biased perspective toward the organized unions in the public sector, the private sector too has felt the shock of the ripple effect. In the private sector, union memberships dropped to 6.6 percent from a “peak of 35% during the 1950s” (Liu, 2013; p. 1). If this trend continues, the United States can expect private sector unions to sink toward irrelevance. The disappearance of unions in both the public and private sectors will consequentially lead to a crippled democratic process where businesses will have overwhelming influence on the laws and render the people powerless against their despicable behaviors.
Government inaction, complicity, and influence by businesses interests against workers across the country have crippled unions' abilities to organize and defend themselves against businesses' exploitative nature. As organized unions decline, so do their political and economic influences on government and society. As a result, corporate influences have dramatically increased in the last few decades. This is evidenced by increased corporate-influenced legislations enacted by congress in limiting organized unions' influences on the labor market. These corporate-influenced legislations contribute to an increase in inequality and an uneven power distribution between businesses and workers, creating an uneven playing field for workers in favor of businesses. In the last few years, congress has enacted the Right to Work legislations rolling back the power of unions in Wisconsin, Indiana and other states, ending their collective bargaining power (Greenhouse, 2013; p. 1). As a result, the ending of collective bargaining prompted many workers to drop their union membership. For instance, in Wisconsin, 48,000 government employees left the unions after “Republican-led legislature stripped them of most of their bargaining rights” and in Indiana, the ending of collective bargaining resulted with a drop of unionization from 11.3 percent in 2011 to 9.1 percent in 2013 (Greenhouse, 2013; p. 2). According to William Spriggs, the A.F.L-CIO Chief Economist, Republican Party’s “vindictive” actions against unions along with employers’ strong campaign against workers, unionization have made it difficult for unions to regain its powers and influences (Greenhouse, 2013; p.2). Organized unions are built on the idea that the people will gather together and fight for the interests of the workers and social causes while on the other hand, businesses in the 21st century have always followed the philosophy of higher profit at any means necessary. But yet, in the past 65 years the government has sought out and supported businesses and their corporate profitability philosophy rather than organized unions and their progressive movements. Is the government ethically responsible to function and maintain social orders in favor of the publics’ interests at the expense of businesses or is the government responsible to protect the health of businesses and the different players in the economy to preserve a healthy economy thereby contributing to social order?
The severely damaged status of labor unions that are seen in the United States today is not just the result of the current anti-union political and business environment; it is the consequence of the government attempting to fix a reverse problem that started fifty years ago. In an attempt to maintain a balance of power when unions were too strong, the U.S. government started a process that has in the long run become extremely unfair to unions, leading the public to consider the government as a reckless and as an ethically irresponsible ally of corporate power. The increase in corporate influences and the decline of organized unions’ influences can date back to 1947 with the enactment of the Taft-Hartley Act. The Taft-Hartley Act imposed a “series of restrictions on union organizing and activities” which has contributed to the decline of union presence in the private sector (Plumber, 2013; p. 1). The bill was passed to combat a series of union related strikes after World War II, when “about 10 percent of the entire American workforce withheld their labor in 1946” (Plumber, 2013; p. 1). Organized unions saw dramatic growth in the 1930s under President Roosevelt’s administration which resulted in a significant shift of power from businesses to workers. This shift negatively affected the United States economy and productivity which prompted the government to enact a series of legislations to weaken unions' overwhelming influences over businesses thus eliminating the threat to a healthy social economy. The United States government saw that it was their ethical responsibility to preserve the balance of power between organized unions and businesses for the public interest. The Taft-Hartley Act is the check and balance the government imposed on organized unions in an attempt to restrict and limit their growth and influences. The Taft-Hartley Act later became the foundation for the decline of organized unions in the private sector and the increase in corporate influences resulting in significant power shifts from organized unions to businesses. This shift of power has continued to produce negative results for the public in the 21st century but the government has yet to take action to maintain the balance, rather it has taken steps to further increase the power gaps. Historically, the government has always taken into consideration the public interests when enacting legislations, but today the government has unethically favored one party over another.
The current state of imbalancement of power between organized unions and businesses created an economic exploitative environment for workers which did not truly occur until the 1990s when the United States vast exporting period ended. Organized unions derive power from the economic strength of the companies and industries they organize, so when unionized companies have market power and high profitability, unions benefited. As such, unions gained great momentum during the United States “virtual monopoly” of modern technology, and production lasted from the end of World War II through the 1960s (Freeman &Hilbrich, 2013; p. 7). However in the 1990s, the world economy shifted after Europe and Asia recovered from World War II and they were able to compete and overwhelmed the United States in production. It became essential for US corporations to outsource many jobs, especially low labor jobs, to low wage countries in order to stay competitive. Businesses' ability to outsource created a monopolistic environment for businesses against workers. Due to globalization, businesses are no longer restricted to a domestic labor market which resulted in a significant decline in workers' ability to bargain for better wages and benefits. Corporations’ economical practices of outsourcing and leveraging of labor market flexibility resulted in exploitation of workers and an overall decline in the US economy. Businesses' ability to outsource their labor significantly shifted the balance of power from workers to businesses. This economical practice resulted in higher business profits but at the expenses of the workers' livelihood. Businesses' monopolistic power over the labor market to dictate workers' wages and benefits is highly unethical and on the baseline of illegal. Many low-skilled workers saw their jobs shipped overseas while all workers are threaten by job insecurity in all sector of the US economy, but yet the government provided little to no financial protection for the workers or presented any financial liability to the businesses.
The decline of organized unions can also be traced back to organized unions' ineffective and unethical model of a closed-party system attributing to their inability to adapt to the changing market dynamic. The changes to the global economy in the 1990s shifted the United States economy from a labor dominated economy to a service economy. The results were growth of service-sector jobs where unions historically have had little presence and the decrease of “traditionally unionized industries” contributed to the decline of organized unions (Jamieson, 2013; p. 1). Additionally, the failure of the National Labor Relations Act to adapt external factors such as competition and productivity in the global economy along with the unions’ limited business mobility resulted in organized unions’ inability to adapt to rapid changes in the global market. The unions’ inability to adapt to the changing global economic environment produced stagnation of progresses which consequently resulted in a decline of public support. However, a true decline of public support for organized unions was not seen until the 2008-2009 recession. Many conservatives argue against organized unions and partially blame them as a factor contributing to the 2008- 2009 recession and weak recovery (Freeman &Hilbrich, 2013; p. 2). According to Freeman and Hibrich, conservatives believed that organized unions’ collective bargaining “hampered state efforts to balance budget.”
Organized unions' ability to collectively bargain was seen as monopolistic and unfair, where the abilities of majority supported unions to cover all employees of a bargaining unit and require employers to bargain with them. This monopolistic power of organized unions produced envy from non-unionized workers. Non-unionized workers felt threatened by unionized workers and received the negative consequences, reduction in wages and benefits, caused by organized unions’ inability to negotiate with managements. Additionally, organized unions have an unjust practice of closing union memberships to only certain sectors of the economy. Organized unions' traditional model of a closed-party system is a barrier to innovative ideas and a display of an exclusive monopolistic power. This exclusive monopolistic power along with the practice of a closed-party system is highly unethical and ineffective. It prevents certain people from seizing the opportunity to join unions and denies them the benefits associated with organized unions' exclusive right of collective bargaining. Such unethical actions by organized unions encouraged distrust and frustrations against unions. This is seen in the polling by Gallup, where “only about one in five Americans say they trust unions” (Porter, 2012; p. 2). These factors contributed to the decline of organized union memberships, its political and economic influences, and support of the public and government.
The United States has seen an increase in the economic disparity between the workers and businesses in the last few decades. The impact of a great economic inequality in the United States will result in an increase of low waged American workers’ dependency on government public assistance programs and increased of workers' vulnerability to economic exploitation by businesses. According to Mr. Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO President, when workers’ voices are nonexistent, wages will decrease, inequality rises and workers lose out on gains they’ve made (Tortora, 2013; p. 1). The inequality mentioned by Mr. Trumka is seen in disparity of income in the United States economy where the middle class had dramatically decreased, and the median household’s income is lower today than it was 10 years ago (UAW, 2013; p. 1). Historically, organized unions have been responsible for increased wages, improved working condition, and improved economy. However, with the continuous decline of organized unions in the last decade, wages have been stagnant and workers’ insecurities have dramatically increased. From 1947 through 1973, when union memberships were at its peak, real wages for non-managerial employee rose by 75 percent in comparison to the last two decade where union memberships have declined, real wages for non-managerial employee rose by only 4 percent (Meyerson, 2012; p. 2). In 2012, workers’ salaries have only increased by 2 percent after adjusting for inflation a quarter of a century ago despite increases in worker productivity (Porter, 2012; p. 2). According to Michael Cembalest, J.P. Morgan’s chief investment officer, the “reductions in wages and benefits were responsible for about 75 percent of the increase in corporate profits between 2000 and 2007 (Meyerson, 2012; p.2). In the past decade, workers’ productivity and education have dramatically increased, but yet their wage and benefits have remained stagnant or even decreased. This trend is destructive to the foundation of a progressive society where people have power to defend themselves against violations of basic human rights and defend the public interests. If the United States were to stay on this path, where organized unions continued to head toward nonexistence, then corporate America will continue to take the profitability earned through the hard work of regular, low-wage American workers and withhold it within their bank accounts. This will result in a greater economic inequality between the have and have not as described in Adam Smith’s Wealth of the Nation.
The political implication of a union-free American is a barrier to a progressive American. Organized unions have a history of supporting and encouraging progressive movements within the United States. They have encouraged unionized white working-class Americans to support Democratic progressive laws and programs such as Medicare, the Voting Rights Act, and anti-poverty programs. And recently, organized unions supported Obama’s administration, the Affordable Care Act and the Dodd-Frank financial-reform law. Organized unions are responsible for providing resources to many progressive movements through history, including the re-election of Barack Obama and congressional Democrats and the National Organization for Women (Meyerson, 2012; p. 2). If unions were to fall, then liberal America will not merely be weakened, it will be crippled.
The current unions’ situation is similar to that of the early years of organized unions, where capitalist exploitation of workers was common. Corporations, compelled by the profit motives and competition from their capitalist rivals, continuously opposed the increase in wages and workers’ benefits while expecting a higher production output from the workers. For instance, the 1911 Triangle Factory Fire in New York City, where 146 people were killed as a resulted of an 18 minutes fire, demonstrated the harsh conditions workers were unethically forced to work under in order to increase production. The workers were unorganized and were subjected to unethical exploitation for corporate profit. Workers were unable to communicate with management due to their lack of power and influence. After the fire, workers joined International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union and the Women’ Trade Union League and fought for better working conditions, ethical treatments, and protective legislations which later influenced other fields’ working conditions and workers’ treatment (Cornell University, 2011; p.2).The 1911 Triangle Factory Fire is an example where corporate profitability unethically overwhelmed the needs of the workers. The managements of the factory did not know or care about the condition of the workers. This ignorance is brought upon by the workers’ lack of representation. The case decided is extreme and more likely will not occur in the future, but the underlying concept remains the same. If organized unions are brought to their knees and disappear, then capitalist unethical exploitation will overtake workers’ rights and benefits in exchange for increase corporate profitability, which potentially could lead to similar incident of the 1911 Triangle Factory Fire. Organized unions allow for workers to raise their voice against management and inform them of the harsh conditions they are working under, but if unions were to disappear, then management will overlook the harsh conditions which will eventually bring unfavorable incidents. Organized unions help provide a system to oversee that businesses are ethically treating their workers in a fair and safe working environment. However, unlike organized unions in the past, today unions have laws and resources that were made possible by the struggle of early American organized unions. The challenge the government faces today is to differentiate businesses as either "people" thereby should be subjective to criticisms and consequences associated with "people" or a separate entity by themselves thereby should not receive the benefits and protection associated with "people." The mind-boggling contradictions is that today businesses are considered "people" but yet they are treated as an entity when faced with consequences associated with their despicable behaviors to the point of criminality and impunity and let go.
The United States is starting to head toward a capitalist exploitation of workers. The economic disparity between the rich and poor continues to grow as middle class jobs become nonexistent and low wage jobs increase in the last decade. Workers are facing levels of uncertainty for job security, healthcare and retirement funds similar to that of the Great Depression due to “poor decisions by management in response to changing economic circumstances” (Lazarus, 2012; p.1). With organized union memberships decline to a 97 years low and increase in government opposition, the United States seems to be heading toward an era of union-free America, where corporate America will continue to unethically exploit workers’ rights to leverage better corporate profit. As the United States continues to recover from the 2008 – 2009 recession, corporations will pressure the government to unethically de-unionized sectors in many regions of the country, decreasing organized unions’ power and influences in the economy and politics and allowing for corporation to unethically leverage outsourcing of labors to maintain a low wage for their employees and maintain high corporate profitability.