Transcript Document

Why Unions Matter –
Now More Than Ever
Elaine Bernard, PhD
Labor and Worklife Program & The Trade Union Program,
Harvard Law School©
Washington State Council of Fire Fighters
Wenatchee Convention Center, WA
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Elaine Bernard
• Executive Director, Labor & Worklife
Program & Harvard Trade Union Program,
Harvard Law School
• Work with a variety of unions – in the U.S.,
Canada, Australia and U.K. - on developing
skills & educational programs for union
leadership
• Teach in fields of international comparative
labor movements, leadership &
organizational change and strategic planning
International (OECD) Trend Line
• Widespread decline in union density
in most countries (though not necessarily in
Collective Bargaining coverage)
• Most sever decline in union
representation primarily in the
private sector
• Growing gap between union density
in public sector vs private sector
(ETUL 2009)
Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
Korea
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
Union Density
35
55
22
80
8
22
34
22
11
16
78
28
CB Coverage
(ETUL 2009)
Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
Korea
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
Union Density
35
55
22
80
8
22
34
22
11
16
78
28
CB Coverage
98
96
44
80
93
64
80
18
13
82
90
34
(ETUL 2009)
Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
Korea
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
Union Density
35
55
22
80
8
22
34
22
11
16
78
28
CB Coverage
98
96
44
80
93
64
80
18
13
82
90
34
U.S. Union Density 1945-2013 - 11.3%
40
1954=35%
35
30
25
% 20
15
10
5
0
1945
1949
1953
1957
1961
1965
1969
1973
1977
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997 2011
Changes in Public/Private Sector
Union Density in U.S.
Private
sector
1973
union members
15 million
Public
sector
7.3 million
3 million
union members
Private Sector Density 24%
Public Sector Density 23%
USDL 12-0094
2013
7.2 million
Private Sector Density 6.7%
Public Sector Density 35%
U.S. Union Members (by industry) 2013
• 47% elementary/secondary education
• 42% local government
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25% utilities
20% transportation
13% construction
10% information industries
10% manufacturing
9% healthcare
2% accommodation
BLS USDL 13-0105
Reasons for Decline…
• Globalization – intensification of international economic &
political integration (free trade race to the bottom)
• Changes in organization of production and employment
(privatization, technological change, contracting out, offshoring, lean production,
JiT inventory systems…)
• Decline of job-based/workplace focus of employment
• Decline in large, concentrated workplaces
• Transformation of employment relationship (decline in full time,
regular, permanent employment – growth in part time, contingent, limited term,
precarious employment)
• Employer (including government) hostility/opposition to
unions
Washington State Union Density
(37.5% decrease in density over 30 years)
Year
Members
Coverage
1983
27
32
1993
24
26
2003
20
21
2013
19
20
Declining rates of unionization…
even among Fire Fighters Nationally
(19% decline over 30 years)
Year
Membership
coverage
1983
78.3
81.7
1993
74.6
76.3
2003
67.8
69.6
2013
63.4
66.5
War on Public Employees
“from heroes to zeroes”
War on Public Employees
“from heroes to zeroes”
War on Public Employees
“from heroes to zeroes”
SCAPGOATING
PUBLIC
EMPLOYEES
“Every person in
every town in
America will know
the reason their library
is closing early is that
public employees
have defined benefit
pensions.”
-Grover Norquist
Assault on the very idea of Government
Well planned offensive…
• Get unions to spend down
revenues (2012 and beyond)
• Permanently weaken unions
(Attack on dues collection, organizing,
collective bargaining)
• Get public revenue streams
for private corporations
(privatization)
• Target - Education, Health
(public safety later)
ALEC
American Legislative Exchange Council
Attack on Pensions
• Eliminate Defined Benefit
Pensions
• Stir “pension envy” (of public sector
workers’ pensions)
• Pensions a massive source of
capital to be tapped
• Companies & Government seek
to shift long term risk (onto individual
workers)
• Financial industry interested in
new savings programs (with hefty
transaction & management costs)
Why Unions Matter
to Members
Union Won Benefits…
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Job security
Salary protection
Paid holidays
Paid vacation
Sick leave
Health insurance and health benefits
Pensions and retirement benefits
Promote consistent/fair treatment
Voice in work scheduling
Recognition & premium for overtime
A say in hiring/promotion
A united voice in dealing with the employer
Impartial process for resolving complaints
Protection against unfair treatment
Role in setting and enforcing occupational health & safety standards
Collective power in standard setting
Promotion of the profession
What Do Unions Do? Beyond Wages & Benefits
• Organization for winning rights
• Vehicle for exercising rights
• Schools for democracy – where workers learn they have a right to
participate in decisions that affect them
• Builders of a community of interest among members and with the
wider community
• Provide “voice” vs “exit” - providing management with valuable,
knowledgeable “feed back” essential for systems improvement
• Premier institution of civil society, promoting democracy in the
workplace, economic and social justice and equality
Why Unions Matter
to Management
How Unions Benefit Management &
the Company/Firm/Service/Agency…
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Aggregate employee interests
Greater commitment of employees
Promote (pride) & professionalism
Bring additional training resources
Negotiate mutually agreed upon standards
(procedural justice)
• Promote voice (vs “exit” & reduced turnover)
• Force competition on factors other than wages
(skill, innovation)
• Provide an institutional memory
• Form a flexible, private, system of workplace
regulation (firm based grievance & dispute resolution)
Why Unions Matter to Society
"In democratic countries,
knowledge of how to combine
is the mother of all other forms of knowledge;
on its progress depends that of all the others."
Alexis De Tocqueville
1831
Collective Bargaining
– a right not a privilege
Freedom of association in the
workplace means…
• The right to organize (form a
union/association)
• The right to engage in collective
bargaining (over wages & working
conditions)
• It’s not a privilege granted by
government but a right
exercised by workers
Louis Brandeis
US Supreme Court Justice 1916-1939
“Strong, responsible
unions are essential to
industrial fair play.
Without them, the labor
bargain is wholly
one sided.”
Unions Awaken Citizens –
A vital contribution to democracy
• Political role of unions (organizing and
promote participation in politics)
• Social goods (acquiring & assuring universality
& quality)
• Economic fairness (for workers in general,
social security, medicare/medicaid, minimum wage)
• Democracy (rights & responsibilities to
participate in society)
• Learning Democracy (democratic, selfgoverning organizations)
• Develop Leadership Skills
Unions – folks who created the middle class
Unions and Shared Prosperity
Louis Brandeis
US Supreme Court Justice 1916-1939
“We may have democracy,
or we may have wealth
concentration in the hands
of a few, but we cannot
have both.”
Concentrated Wealth & Corporate Power
is Undermining Our Democracy
Unions: An
“experience good”
An experience good is a product or
service where product
characteristics, such as quality or
price are difficult to observe in
advance, but these characteristics
can be ascertained upon
consumption.
As “an experience good” unions need to be
experienced to appreciate their true value
The Challenge for Today’s Unions …
• New workforce (different needs/expectations)
• New members with little knowledge of
labor/union history
• Grew up in anti-union environment
• View union as “service” or
“insurance” (at best)
• Did not seek out their jobs as method
to become a union activist
• Have not “experienced” the union as
collective action (less than 5% of members
ever use grievance system)
Unions – the myth
• Members went through a hard fought organizing campaign
• Members know that their most important protection is a
negotiated collective agreement
• Members recognize that the rights, benefits, and protections
that they enjoy are because of the union
• Members recognize that the union power comes from an
engaged and active membership.
Unions – the reality
• Vast majority of members
did not participate in an
“organizing” campaign.
• They simply “discover”
they are union members –
as a result of the job and
employer they chose.
st
21
Century Unionism….
• Unions an “experience good”
• Create value (for members, fire
service, community)
• Economic justice & equality
(fight to reverse growing inequality)
• Defend the “commons” (public
goods and wider public sector)
• Share the “knowledge of how
to combine” vital for
democratic communities.
The Best Way to
Predict the Future is to
Create it