Unions.

Though I’ve never been a part of a union for very long and I’m not a member of one now, I have been part of one in my career. I paid my dues and I carried my card. ?

Because of the union at this job, even though I was brand new, I received the same exact pay as a tenured worker on our crew. ?

I had no experience, and my union-mandated compensation matched everyone else, including an individual who had been doing the job for 8 years. They could produce a higher quality of work, they were more efficient, and yet their compensation was no different than mine or anyone else’s. Same job, same pay - that was the argument. Except it wasn’t the same job. Not really, since he was training me, mentoring me, and his work was better. In my opinion, it was never fair that he didn’t get paid more. His experience clearly meant he deserved more pay, in my assessment. This is one small example.?

Let’s jump back in time:?

Some of the first American unions formed back in the late 1700s, the very first being the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers (Philadelphia Shoemakers) in 1794. Unions were created to protect workers, provide a safer working environment, implement reasonable working hours, increase wages, etc.,etc.,

Unions were instrumental in ending human rights violations such as the practice of child labor, and racial discrimination. Unions helped ensure that women, immigrants and different ethnicities received fair wages across the workforce. Historically, unions and labor groups have also influenced policy at the federal level with the Department of Labor, Civil Rights Legislation and more.?

Unions reached new heights through the 1940s and 1950s. Their membership numbers peaked and continued growth occurred in government sectors, nursing, police, utilities, manufacturing,?transportation, and warehousing, as a few examples. Later, unions began forming in sound recording, music and motion pictures, and outside of the traditional blue-collar as their popularity rose.?

Since the 1960s, American Union membership has been in a relatively steady decline.?In the 80s union workers represented 20% of the workforce, in 2017 they represent 10.7%. The biggest decline in union members takes place in the private sector. In 2020, union members represented only 6.3% of the private sector workforce (read more here and here).?

With all the positives unions brought to working people why did numbers start declining? There are several reasons attributed to the decline in union membership. To list a few;?

• The changing workforce and younger demographic not joining unions.
• A higher cost of labor.
• Some unions have poor public images.
• Employees do not like paying dues.
• Globalization.

The biggest factor towards the decrease in union popularity I can see is globalization, at least in the manufacturing/export industry. Unions create higher wage costs, and this reduces competitiveness with countries that can manufacture and ship for less.?

There also appears to be a rise in anti-union sentiment from the general public. Why? Since most consumers are not attached to unions themselves, the impacts of a union’s collective bargaining (strikes and labour interruptions most common) are a disruption to their lives that does not benefit them. The examples come to mind quickly, such as parents who need to find alternate arrangements for their children when teachers go on strike. Rail and port strikes come to mind as well. Most recently, Canada is facing hearty economic disruption from the BC port strikes. ?

The actions of these unions may be in their member's best interests, but what about the rest of the people they inadvertently hold hostage in their bargaining??

The topic of essential services came up during COVID-19. Are the services we see striking most often not considered essential? Should police, nurses, and teachers not already be considered essential??Business and commerce rely on transportation, should ports and rail workers not be essential? If I’m not mistaken, they were during the pandemic. ?

In my opinion, businesses are not behaving with egregious human rights violations and safety violations as they were in the early 20th century. There is now legislation to protect workers, and there is more every year. Are unions still serving purposes aside from helping their members bargain for more money at the expense of the general public and commerce? ?

Margaret Thatcher, known as the ‘Iron Lady’ during her tenure (1979-1990) as Prime minister of Britain, crushed the UK’s trade unions during her reign. The unions had become so powerful in the 1970s that conservative leader Edward Heath called for an early election to fight on the question “Who Governs Britain?” is it unions or elected officials? Heath and the conservative party lost the election to the union-backed labour party this time. During the 1979 election for Thatcher, the opposition (Labour Party) was facing backlash from the same unions that originally supported them, later called the “Winter of Discontent” as the unions went on strike for pay raises. The strikes did have a dramatic effect during the winter, things turned in Liverpool, and even the gravediggers went on strike.?With this strife, Margaret Thatcher and the Conservatives took power in 1979 for 18 years.?More on Thatcher here.?

Margret's Famous comment “We had to fight the enemy in the Falklands. We always have to be aware of the enemy within, which is more difficult to fight and more dangerous to Liberty”??

As always, I am interested in my networks thoughts. How are you reacting to unions and especially their impact on transportation so far in 2023? ?