We saw a great piece on young workers and unions at the AFL-CIO website, and wanted to share our thinking on the subject. We’re glad to see its not just the Wall Street Journal offering advice to young workers in this economic crisis, so we’re updating a similar piece we wrote a few months back on why this effort deserves more attention.
With the economy being what it is these days, one has to wonder, “What’s it going to take to turn this thing around”? Big Business is already trying to go back to “business as usual”, with a bottom-line focused on profits, and acting as if no economic crisis ever occurred. Sadly this continues to be done at the expense of their workers.
It’s easy to feel discouraged and hopeless in this situation as an individual, but if we are to overcome our immediate problems we need to get serious about building collective power to challenge the grip that corporations and banks have on Congress (which has been easy for all to see these days - just look at the healthcare debate.)
Thankfully it appears the labor movement is doing just that. There are more discussions happening and many indications that young workers will be a big part of rebuilding the labor movement.
Trumka promised the crowd that he would be more aggressive when it comes to expanding union membership — particularly younger workers — and holding politicians accountable for votes on legislation that affects workers.
This is brilliant and would make total sense. You know who’s getting the really ugly end of the stick in the economic crisis? Young workers. I’m not saying older workers aren’t getting screwed over, because we all are, I’m just pointing out that there are a lot of young people out there who are having a hard time getting a job.
There are many signs that this effort to rebuild the labor movement through engaging young workers will be real and get some support, at least if one is to judge by the work individual unions are beginning to carry out to develop their younger members. One recent example is the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees’ (AFSCME) “Next Wave” effort which gathered hundreds of excited and commited members under the age of 40 in a space which encouraged young workers to take ownership of the union’s growth and direction. Here are some highlights from that gathering:
This initiative would completely be a game-changer in the long-term, one that the U.S. labor movement would be smart to pursue. Labor organizations in other countries have already begun doing this, and are having amazing results!
This movement is one of the many reasons we need to continue our efforts to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. Never heard of it? I would usually babble on here, but some friends in Philly beat me to it and made a great video on what the bill does using the struggle of Allied Barton Security Guards to organize as a jumping off point…. check them out:
The Employee Free Choice Act would:
- Give workers the option of joining a union through majority sign-up if they chose this route.
- Help employees secure a contract with their employer in a reasonable period of time
- And finally, toughen penalties against employers who violate their workers’ rights
Now I know that folks may be hearing on TV that this is “stealing” so-called “secret ballots” from workers, and a bunch of other arguments on why this is horrible, but check out this graphic before you figure out what’s real:
Not the same election at all
And finally, if you think that this legislation has no implications for you as a young worker (or a worker even if you don’t identify with the young part), remember that ultimately this is related to your wallet! Young workers in unions make more than their peers not in unions. Not to mention more likely to have health insurance and pensions — but who needs those, right? The same holds true for women, latinos, african-americans, asian-americans, and working people in general.
Now that you know, lets go get ours! Take a minute to send your congressfolks the message, don’t let them mess this one up!
Finally, because young workers say it better than no one else, here’s a link to some retail workers and other members of the UFCW on why they want Employee Free Choice!
