My Zaydeh was a paperhanger. So was his son, my uncle. They belonged to the Paperhanger's Union. When he retired, my Zaydeh got a lapel pin and a photograph of himself and the also-retiring Union Rep. The Union Rep got a pension and health insurance. No one knows if he got a copy of the photograph, too.
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The New York Times ran a lengthy op ed last week, wondering Why Do We Pay So Many People So Little Money. It's a long piece, well referenced, from varying viewpoints. It made clear economic arguments which, to me, are often abstruse and obtuse and arcane.
It's worth reading, if only to see that no one thinks what is going on right now is sustainable for much longer.
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Gig workers aren't employees so Uber doesn't pay into the tax system which supports the social safety net, putting the burden on those of us who do pay taxes.
Investors in Uber are happy, because the company is keeping costs down. Consumers are happy because the company keeps its prices low.
Workers get the short end of the stick.
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What happened to the union movement?
A friend lost her job to a younger, pay-her-less, employee during a down-sizing, despite the fact that she had seniority. Alas, the union rep told her, the City Manager has the ultimate say. It's in the contract.
Workers Unite!! You have nothing to lose but your chains!
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It seems to me that the only unions still protecting their members are representing the police and professional athletes.
Did you know (I didn't) that police don't have a Permanent Record? Get fired for cause? Just go across town and try again. No one will know about your past. It's in the contract.
As for the NBA and the NFL and the MLB, it's the Rich vs the Richer, while the people manning the parking lots and the concession stands work for minimum wage with no benefits. I don't see a lot of interest in unionization there. I can see why.
Teachers also have unions and I think in some states like Oregon state workers have a union that keeps their wages up. My dad was in a union and it was good and bad-- bad when they would strike. I see them as good and bad for their benefits. They can protect bad cops and bad teachers, but they also can represent their people more powerfully than if each stood alone. They need to be fixed when they protect the bad and that includes teachers with tenure.
ReplyDeleteThe union helped and hurt... protecting teachers was a big issue for us when I was on the school board, as were the state union reps screwing up our peaceably negotiated contract.
DeleteThere were protections, but the focus was always on maintaining power rather than social change.
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The demise of unions has greatly contributed to our uneven distribution of wealth.
ReplyDeleteIn short, that's one of the central points of the NYT article.
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