When to Say "When"

One needn’t look too far to see that the unionized workforce in America continues to shrink. According to the US Department of Labor, it has decreased from 20.1% in 1983 to 11.8% in 2011 with most of those being public sector workers. And we know that many state and local workers are now being asked to accept draconian cuts to their existing contracts.

Few remain that can give a first-hand account of labor’s foray into organization. A quick search of the internet will provide ample anecdotal evidence, though, that it was far removed from scholarly debate in a wood-paneled boardroom. No, it was more brick-bats and fisticuffs in the streets and back alleys surrounding the plants in question. The desire to have a voice was equally met with a solid resistance from managements and the desire to maintain the status quo. Why not? After all, with no union, bosses could hire and fire at will while holding the threat of job loss over every employee as they sought higher and higher productivity.

The blood spilled in those battles led to management’s eventual capitulation in the name of labor peace and the unionization of much of the work force led to a higher quality of life and the Middle Class. And this, in turn, led to an economy that rose all boats.

In the last several decades, though, unionization became passé and many took the pay, benefits, and working conditions they enjoyed as a given rather than acknowledging the sacrifices made by those before them. “Union dues? We don’t need them. Hell, we’ve got a great job!”

This relaxation was well received by management teams and the politicos that supported big business bosses over worker bees. Thus the mantras began: good, hard workers don’t need unions...our door is always open...right to work legislation. Seemingly overnight, unions found themselves on the defensive and strikes were met with eager applicants ready to cross a picket line to get one of those once-great jobs. As it turned out, many of those replacement workers (scabs) abandoned their positions soon thereafter due to the onerous conditions under which they toiled.

So here we are today with a disappearing middle class that covered up the erosion of their pay and quality of life by dipping into the equity of their homes. Until, at least, their home values sunk to a point where they had none to draw. And, sadly, many jobs lost in the past five years are not coming back largely due to automation and even higher productivity from unionized and non-unionized workers alike.

Strikes have become a tool of the past. Back to work decrees and the uncertainty of success have combined to neuter labor’s biggest weapon. And without the threat of a strike, management can extend negotiations ad infinitum without fear of any work stoppage. Organized labor’s heyday lies in the past, at least for the time being.

As I write this, my former colleagues at American Airlines are deciding which devil to dance with: a contract that is far worse than the present one or the abrogation of it altogether through the bankruptcy court. Abrogation has occurred only once in the airline industry when Frank Lorenzo used Chapter 11 proceedings to throw out the contracts at Continental Airlines. Even though Congress closed the loophole, Lorenzo tried it again at Eastern, but the employees decided that one swift stabbing was more desirable than a death by a thousand cuts and struck, en masse. 

American’s management is exhorting the employees to support the LBFO (Last, Best Final Offer) and the union leaders are echoing that sentiment in claiming that it is the lesser of the two evils. My opinion is moot since I am no longer in the arena and immune from suffering the consequences of either option.

Nevertheless, I can say with a high degree of certainty that until labor, in general, decides to once again oppose the continued degradation of contractual rights their ranks will continue to diminish. And by “opposition” I do not suggest long-winded bargaining sessions in wood-paneled boardrooms. No, the fight will once again move to the streets and back-alleys and blood will be shed. It may not be the kind that is spilled from split heads, but rather a financial blood letting whose consequences may be longer lasting while leaving deeper scars.

There is a point where even a union job has been decimated to the point where it no longer offers any meaningful reward. It is at this point where the union is rendered meaningless, too. I could say, with a cavalier wave of my hand, that the time has come for workers to once again embrace the power of an organized employee group, but to what end? It is now, as it always has been, up to each individual to decide just how much can be given away until a job’s worth has evaporated. And until that tipping point is reached corporate and public leaders will continue to nibble away at the pay and benefits of their employees hoping that the thought of “it could be worse” will result in yet another concession.

Interesting times, to be sure. Isn’t that a Chinese curse?