Every Labor Day I reflect on the year prior to learn from the challenges, celebrate the successes and plan for the year to come. From securing better wages and benefits to enhancing workplace safety, advancing legislative victories, championing social justice and demonstrating resilience in the face of adversity, unions have continued through collective bargaining to be a powerful advocate for workers’ rights.
This solidarity has been evident in the numerous strikes, protests and campaigns that have captured national attention and garnered widespread support. By standing together, workers have shown we are a formidable force capable of driving positive change in society.
Standing together with co-workers in a union makes a tangible difference in our life that we feel every day. Workers in labor unions make 18% more in wages than our nonunion counterparts. We are more likely to have health care benefits. We work in safer workplaces. We have more job security — even and especially in moments of economic crisis. Countries where most workers are in a union are among the happiest and healthiest on Earth. Life is better in a union.
Speaking of the power of collective action, we are currently standing on a precipice. As we approach the 2024 elections, the choices we make will have profound implications for the future of our democracy, our economy, our environment and our global standing. The importance of this election cannot be overstated.
In recent years, we have witnessed efforts to undermine the foundations of our democratic institutions. From voter suppression to attempts at eroding the independence of our judiciary, the integrity of our democratic process has been challenged. We need leaders that will be committed to protecting and expanding voting rights, ensuring that every American has a voice in our democracy. This includes passing comprehensive voting rights legislation, ending gerrymandering and making it easier, not harder, for citizens to participate in elections.
Furthermore, the outcome of the 2024 elections will shape the future of our economy. Under Democratic leadership, we have seen significant strides in creating jobs, raising wages and supporting working families. Policies such as increasing the minimum wage, expanding access to affordable health care and investing in education and job training programs have helped lift millions out of poverty and strengthen the middle class. We must continue to build an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few.
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We’re in a moment of uncertainty across this country, with far too many folks having checked out of politics either because they’re too messy, too divisive or because they think their participation doesn’t matter. Americans are fed up with politicians, and approval ratings for Congress and most major institutions have plummeted to well below 50%. We — the labor movement — are the exception. In America, 71% believe in unions — more than two-thirds of people in this country, the highest number in the past 60 years. We are where people seem to have increasingly placed their hopes, and we are whom they are trusting with their aspirations for a better future.
Why? Look around at the wins workers have earned, together, and the real human impact they have. UAW won 25% pay raises for employees’ new contracts with the Big 3 automakers, and they were joined on their picket line by President Joe Biden, the first president in U.S. history to do so. The Teamsters took on UPS and won historic safety protections and wage increases. The Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA stood up to Hollywood and won protections against artificial intelligence, because AI has the power to threaten jobs in every sector. More than 1 million union members secured double-digit wage increases over this past year in their new contracts. Solidarity works.
So, where do we go in 2024? We keep on keeping on. We focus on the things we have in common rather than in conflict. We work to strengthen our current relationships and to build new ones. We find common ground with nontraditional partners and invest in our local economic and workforce development opportunities, so that everyone has access to a family sustaining career with the wages, hours and working conditions that each of us strive to attain. A career where they are treated with dignity and respect, and valued both for what they contribute and for who they are.
On this Labor Day, I hope you celebrate how far we’ve come since it became a federal holiday in 1894, but that you acknowledge how far we still have to go. And the only way to get there is together.
Julie Lind is the executive secretary-treasurer of the San Mateo Labor Council.
So Julie - please answer this "From voter suppression to attempts at eroding the independence of our judiciary, the integrity of our democratic process has been challenged." Would your unions allow undocumented persons without a valid photo ID to join or even vote? What independence of the judiciary are you glorifying? Keeping the opposing party leader off the ballot or try to jail him? Those are old labor union tactics that worked before you came upon the scene. That does not sound very democratic. And you also forgot to mention that Trump actually showed up at the picket lines before Biden realized he needed to score points. You are a misleading leftist. Labor unions are beneficial but do not need to be biased politically.
Dirk, I would think it would be the employers job to check documentation not the unions? Why does it matter to you if they were allowed in the union or not? Many employers deliberately hire undocumented folks because they are easily exploitable. Unions are the only force standing up for workers, and they stand up for all workers, whether or not they are in the union.
Trump actively sought to roll back worker protections when he was in office. Did he show up on a picket line? Was that one of his many brilliant photo ops, similar to his holding up a bible in front of a church, or breaking the rules at Arlington Cemetery to once again disrespect veterans in service of making a commercial?
I continue to be fascinated by your reversals of facts. Trump is a documented criminal and has been successfully dodging being held accountable for his law breaking. He also runs of promises of prosecuting and "locking up" his opponents. A cornerstone of his Project 2025 is to run all of government, including the DOJ, by means of partisan hacks. He made a lot of progress on this when he was in office. (WHY is Louis DeJoy still being allowed to damage our Postal Service???)
Westy - none of your 'facts' are reversible as there are none. His convictions will be overturned, his opponents have trying to lock him up, that is a fact. He is not in support of Project 2025 and if De Joy were such a disaster, Biden could have removed him. My analogy dealt with the illegals being allowed to vote as there is no viable way to vet them. The motor-voter law facilitates voter fraud. Her unions would not accept members if they could not produce a photo-ID so why would we allow folks to vote who cannot produce one? Is that the same as making voting more difficult? I am generally pro-union except when it comes to stifling work rules. Labor unions are primarily interested in increasing membership, not in efficiency or productivity.
Ah, I thought you were referring to allowing them to vote in the union. So you think that unions have some control over who can vote in our national elections?
Labor unions are formed by workers to negotiate for better pay, safer working conditions, and better benefits. Of course, they are interested in increasing membership, because that gives them more negotiating power for their primary goals, listed above. Labor unions have a long, proud history in this country. Because of them we have higher wages, reasonable hours, safer working conditions, health benefits, and aid when retired or injured on the job.
Union protectionism can lead to serious personnel and staffing issues as a result of union leadership protecting a poor performer. For example, three and a half years ago, an employee was hired and assigned tasks, but the employee did not complete those tasks. Even after receiving very low performance appraisals during this period, the employee maneuvered toward a promotion by undermining an immediate supervisor. The employee expects a promotion in a couple of months, but declined to interview for the new position until the employee could hand pick a successor. The employee is now promising to complete the unfinished tasks left undone if the employee receives a promotion. It looks like the employee’s union… the DNC… is protecting this employee.
Westy - like everything else, there are always two sides to the story. Ray is highlighting one of them below. I worked at PG&E for 19 years and saw with my own eyes what labor unions, in this case the IBEW, can do to to strangle work performance. Their negotiated work rules are obscene bordering on ridiculous. Examples abound, but one only needs to observe PG&E crews at a site where many are standing around because picking up a shovel or a tool is not in their job classification. I they dare performing even the most elementary task outside their description, another crew member will file a grievance. A utility like PG&E could likely let go of 30% of their personnel if they could bring sanity to their work rules. I was watching a contractor crew last year who replaced the main water lines in our street. I noticed that everyone on this team was doing whatever task was required. That included driving heavy equipment, digging, passing tools to one another, and so on. There was no distinction. So, Westy, I am a firm supporter of unions but many have gone beyond workability in terms of getting the job done efficiently. That is why I stated that the leadership is more interested in adding to the membership than helping our society function reasonably.. We are paying dearly for these inefficiencies; just look at your PG&E bill, the public education hierarchy, and the laughable state of California's bureaucracy.
Dirk, Even though you have had negative experiences with unions, I believe that they are critical to empowering workers, keeping them safe, and ensuring they are not exploited. It is the only mechanism we have. I would personally prefer a society structured to favor worker-owned businesses and co-ops but that isn't what we have. And the fact is that a vote for Republicans is a vote against unions. They have been working for decades to weaken, undermine, and destroy unions.
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(7) comments
So Julie - please answer this "From voter suppression to attempts at eroding the independence of our judiciary, the integrity of our democratic process has been challenged." Would your unions allow undocumented persons without a valid photo ID to join or even vote? What independence of the judiciary are you glorifying? Keeping the opposing party leader off the ballot or try to jail him? Those are old labor union tactics that worked before you came upon the scene. That does not sound very democratic. And you also forgot to mention that Trump actually showed up at the picket lines before Biden realized he needed to score points. You are a misleading leftist. Labor unions are beneficial but do not need to be biased politically.
Dirk, I would think it would be the employers job to check documentation not the unions? Why does it matter to you if they were allowed in the union or not? Many employers deliberately hire undocumented folks because they are easily exploitable. Unions are the only force standing up for workers, and they stand up for all workers, whether or not they are in the union.
Trump actively sought to roll back worker protections when he was in office. Did he show up on a picket line? Was that one of his many brilliant photo ops, similar to his holding up a bible in front of a church, or breaking the rules at Arlington Cemetery to once again disrespect veterans in service of making a commercial?
I continue to be fascinated by your reversals of facts. Trump is a documented criminal and has been successfully dodging being held accountable for his law breaking. He also runs of promises of prosecuting and "locking up" his opponents. A cornerstone of his Project 2025 is to run all of government, including the DOJ, by means of partisan hacks. He made a lot of progress on this when he was in office. (WHY is Louis DeJoy still being allowed to damage our Postal Service???)
Westy - none of your 'facts' are reversible as there are none. His convictions will be overturned, his opponents have trying to lock him up, that is a fact. He is not in support of Project 2025 and if De Joy were such a disaster, Biden could have removed him. My analogy dealt with the illegals being allowed to vote as there is no viable way to vet them. The motor-voter law facilitates voter fraud. Her unions would not accept members if they could not produce a photo-ID so why would we allow folks to vote who cannot produce one? Is that the same as making voting more difficult? I am generally pro-union except when it comes to stifling work rules. Labor unions are primarily interested in increasing membership, not in efficiency or productivity.
Ah, I thought you were referring to allowing them to vote in the union. So you think that unions have some control over who can vote in our national elections?
Labor unions are formed by workers to negotiate for better pay, safer working conditions, and better benefits. Of course, they are interested in increasing membership, because that gives them more negotiating power for their primary goals, listed above. Labor unions have a long, proud history in this country. Because of them we have higher wages, reasonable hours, safer working conditions, health benefits, and aid when retired or injured on the job.
Hey, Dirk... happy Labor Day weekend to you!
Union protectionism can lead to serious personnel and staffing issues as a result of union leadership protecting a poor performer. For example, three and a half years ago, an employee was hired and assigned tasks, but the employee did not complete those tasks. Even after receiving very low performance appraisals during this period, the employee maneuvered toward a promotion by undermining an immediate supervisor. The employee expects a promotion in a couple of months, but declined to interview for the new position until the employee could hand pick a successor. The employee is now promising to complete the unfinished tasks left undone if the employee receives a promotion. It looks like the employee’s union… the DNC… is protecting this employee.
Westy - like everything else, there are always two sides to the story. Ray is highlighting one of them below. I worked at PG&E for 19 years and saw with my own eyes what labor unions, in this case the IBEW, can do to to strangle work performance. Their negotiated work rules are obscene bordering on ridiculous. Examples abound, but one only needs to observe PG&E crews at a site where many are standing around because picking up a shovel or a tool is not in their job classification. I they dare performing even the most elementary task outside their description, another crew member will file a grievance. A utility like PG&E could likely let go of 30% of their personnel if they could bring sanity to their work rules. I was watching a contractor crew last year who replaced the main water lines in our street. I noticed that everyone on this team was doing whatever task was required. That included driving heavy equipment, digging, passing tools to one another, and so on. There was no distinction. So, Westy, I am a firm supporter of unions but many have gone beyond workability in terms of getting the job done efficiently. That is why I stated that the leadership is more interested in adding to the membership than helping our society function reasonably.. We are paying dearly for these inefficiencies; just look at your PG&E bill, the public education hierarchy, and the laughable state of California's bureaucracy.
Dirk, Even though you have had negative experiences with unions, I believe that they are critical to empowering workers, keeping them safe, and ensuring they are not exploited. It is the only mechanism we have. I would personally prefer a society structured to favor worker-owned businesses and co-ops but that isn't what we have. And the fact is that a vote for Republicans is a vote against unions. They have been working for decades to weaken, undermine, and destroy unions.
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