Ensuring Freedom by Preserving the Values of Trade Unions Essay

Ensuring Freedom by Preserving the Values of Trade Unions Thoughtful committed citizens are the only thing that have ever changed the world. —Margaret Mead Anti-union sentiment is increasingly pervading American culture. In fact, one critic says, â€Å"The United States in now on the verge of a risky experiment: to become the first parliamentary democracy in modern world history without a substantial trade union movement† (Lichtenstein 66). In addition to weakening bargaining power, the judicial system allows workers to resign in the midst of a strike and scab on coworkers. A huge number of professionals and supervisors were even deemed exempt from representation (Lichtenstein 66). Legislation and corporate wealth are eroding the power of organized labor and thereby obfuscating workplace democracy; extinguishing employee rights; eroding the living standards of working, working- poor, and middle class Americans; muting the voice of minorities; retarding environmental improvements; increasing corporate domination of politics; and auguring exploitation of workers throughout the world. However, a significant portion of freedoms, to which Americans have become accustomed, would be greatly diminished or non-existent without the social values that are embodied by organized labor. Evidence suggests that employers seldom behave democratically without the mandate of a higher authority such as the government or a union. It is no wonder that workplace dictatorships are becoming a widespread phenomenon as government regulations fail to adequately protect workers but enhance the power of employers: â€Å"Fear of being fired, downsized, laid off, of not making pension time, poverty in a new economy, of part-time and insecure, low-paid jobs, an... ...titute, 1997. Lawrence, Vince. â€Å"John Sweeney’s Militant Unionism.† The New Republic 6 Oct. 1997: 23 - 24. LeRoy, Greg. â€Å"The Terrible Ten.† The Progressive 28 May 1999: 27 - 30. Lichtenstein, Nelson. â€Å"Work Rights, Individual Rights.† Dissent Spring 1997: 66 - 72. Mantois, Gregory. A New Labor Movement for the New Century. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1998. Moberg, David. â€Å"Union Pension Power.† The Nation 1 June 1998: 16 - 19. Puddington, Arch. â€Å"Is Labor Back?† Commentary July 1998: 39 - 42. Shribman, David. â€Å"Big Labor Gets Its Act Together.† Fortune 29 Sept. 1997: 60 - 61. Silbiger, Stephen. â€Å"State of Unions.† National Review 26 Jan. 1998: 20 - 21. Smith, Peter. â€Å"The Fractured World of the Temporary Worker.† Journal of Labour 22.2 (‘1998): 414 -427. Wells, Don. â€Å"Labour Solidarity Goes Global.† Canadian Dimension 32.2 (1998): 33 - 39.