Listen to my annual Labor Day assessment of the condition of American workers and their Unions, and latest key trends and developments including Amazon & Starbucks organizing and the mainstream press virtual blackout of historic collective bargaining negotiations currently underway involving US railway workers and west coast longshore dock workers.
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SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT:
Dr. Rasmus presents his annual labor day overview of the condition of American unions and working class. A description of the history of the rise and fall of union membership in the US from the 1920s to the present is given, followed by why overall union membership still remains stagnant despite 60-70% of workers saying in polls and surveys they want a union. Corporate-Govt causes of the decline vs. union top leadership failures are addressed. On the positive side, Dr. Rasmus reviews the past year’s positive union events including formation of unions at Amazon, Starbucks and other retail and the direct election of new top union leaders in the autoworkers and Teamsters unions. The state of current negotiations involving the ILWU (west coast dockworkers) and the Railway unions is covered, and the key strategic nature of these unions and negotiations are noted. On the negative side, the failure of the Biden administration to get the promised PRO Act passed and the White House’s token responses. An overview of the condition of the US working class over the past year concludes the show, including what’s really happening with jobs, the decline in real wages, other compensation losses for the working class in 2021-22 and why Biden’s recent legislation will have no benefit to workers in the short term.
The dismal health of the American worker is a reflection of the dismal health of the country as a whole. Some comments may be helpful. The Federal regulatory agencies in charge of labor are a form of defacto regulatory capture by industry, akin to the situation in California of the PUC vis vis the utility companies. They are used as weapons against labor not to protect working people. The indirect election of union officials is as anti-democratic as the indirect election of US Presidents through the electoral college. All Federal legislation has built in price controls for wage gains—-”a cooling off period”—–but there is no Federal legislation to stop price gouging by the Fortune 500———- there is no comparable “cooling off period.” All new part time hires are counted as new jobs but a loss of a part time job is not counted as an unemployed worker.