Assault on Unions

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Strained States Turning to Laws to Curb Unions,” describes, in effect, a coordinated attack on union power and influence in elections.

Couched in terms of state budget deficits, with the exception of a few states such as New York and California, new legislation is being prepared to take away union influence with no monetary effect. The laws include “right-to-work” provisions, formally prevalent only in the South and West, that give workers the right to avoid joining a union even though they may still reap the benefits of collective bargaining.

Republicans now control the governorship and both houses of the state legislature in six new states: Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and overall, they have won the legislature in 26 states compared to 14 before the election.

The new governor of Ohio, John Kasich, is even going farther by trying to prevent certain groups from unionizing at all and prohibiting strikes by teachers.

Of course, these assaults on unions are being framed in populist terms, trying to compare the suffering of the unemployed and those in the private sector versus the “lush” salaries and pensions of union workers. People forget that unions have been fighting against the power of corporations, sending jobs overseas and privatizing social security, for example.

The results of all these efforts are yet to be determined, but I anticipate a strong counterattack by the unions to defend their hard earned rights.