As America positions itself away from the manufacturing industry and moves in the direction of the service industry, we find that some young workers don’t believe the white collared world needs the labor movement. As some young workers graduate from college where the labor movement was rarely talked about in history books, or may live in states where they have rewritten history, we find that some of those young workers don’t feel as though we need the labor movement. Let’s just consider the keen, young, cut throat worker who will stop at nothing to be the boss, even those young workers don’t feel as though we need the labor movement.
Well let’s phrase the question “What would the world be like if the labor movement left us today?” Hypothetically, do you think that the employers would pay a living wage, contribute to health care, or offer retirement options? Do you think that employers would fight to repeal minimum wage, child labor laws, or the forty (40) hour work week? I guess this can all be summed up in one question “Do you believe that employers would do whatever it took to be competitive with other countries, even if it took reversing everything that the working class has fought for?” I believe that there are companies out there that would do the right thing even if they were not mandated, but even those companies would eventually be swallowed by greed!
We have experienced the world without the labor movement. Think back to the late 1800’s or early 1900’s where the railroad industry controlled the government and pulverized the working class. During that time J. P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie were pressured to purchase and merge with banks, steel companies, and railroad companies which weakened small business and competition. Workers were forced to work long hours with no lunch breaks for low wages. This is what history consisted of and everyone already knows that history does a great job of repeating itself.
Now, flashback to the 20th century where companies are still merging and are too big to fail. The government is still controlled by large corporations and Wall Street’s interest. The middleclass is gasping for air, while large corporations are making hand over fist profits as usual. Tier systems are being implemented for young workers. The court systems are ruling in favor of large corporations political donations. Many workers are unemployed or underemployed. Whether you are white collared or blue collared, employers are still violating workers rights. So I say YES young workers still need the labor movement and they need the labor movement like never before, so that we can learn from our mistakes and not repeat the pitfalls in history.
Everyday white collar workers are realizing they need the labor movement. I just read a story and watched the video about lawyers in New Jersey. They organized to be represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers because they recognized the importance of bargaining as a unit. Open your eyes young workers! Large corporations promote independence and competition, when the labor movement promotes solidarity and unionism. Just take this quote from a wise man “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.” – King Solomon
Sometimes I just don’t understand why there is always a financially struggling college kid, a low wage worker, or a middle class citizen that feel as though they have to go out of their way to defend tax breaks for the rich. At least once a month I find one person that wants to argue against their own interest and it continues to baffle me.
Their argument is always that government can’t tax or has to cut taxes for large corporations or millionaires so that they can invest in the economy and create jobs. My first question for them is “Have you ever heard of General Electric?” Here is a corporation that paid zero dollars ($0.00) in corporate taxes, and received a tax benefit of 3.2 billion dollars. In addition, they are still shipping American jobs overseas. General Electric has over 300 tax lawyers that help them evade paying taxes and find every corporate loophole known to man. They do not need another lobbyist that is paycheck “free”. The people that need to be heard or need lobbyist are the middleclass that had to almost give up their right arm for a tax break, the federal workers who are receiving a two year freeze in pay, and the state workers that have been taking furlough days for the last four years. Those are the people that need to be represented and have their voices heard.
Just take my state, the state of Maryland. We just came out of the ninety (90) day session where everyone was on the chopping block except for millionaires and corporations. Young Workers received tier systems for pensions, retirees have to pay more for prescriptions, the EZ-Pass tolls for drivers are going up, the cost of alcohol taxes were raised, and many social programs were cut. However the corporate loophole called combined reporting, was never addressed. This is where large corporations that do business with multiple states pay taxes on the profits they made in the State with the lowest tax margin. This helps them to evade paying corporate taxes in Maryland. This is a great disadvantage for Maryland small businesses that are being squeezed and can’t enjoy those lucrative tax loopholes. Most of all, when children, retirees, new workers, state employees, and others are sharing in the sacrifice the millionaires in Maryland get a tax break. The Millionaires tax rate went from 6.25% to 5.5% starting on January 1, 2011. So I say once again they do not need another lobbyist that is paycheck “free”.
How could anyone think that trickledown economics could ever work? Banks and Insurance companies proved this when they received all types of bailouts during the recession and refused to lend money to the working class or small businesses. Instead they just let the money sit in their vaults, closed lines of credits (LOC’s), and let the American economy go on life support. The way to go will always be bottom-up. Give the tax breaks to the working class or small businesses because they will always spend the money to put their kids through college, purchase a home, go on vacation, buy food at the local grocer, and maybe even purchase a car. America’s economy has always been strong when the middleclass is thriving because the dollars are being recycled and people are spending money.
Once again if you are poor, in the middleclass, or a small business owner I ask you not to be ignorant to the issues. Many millionaires and large corporations are doing things for their sole benefit to make sure their voices are heard. It is our job to make sure that the other 95% of Americans have their voices heard to represent the interest of all Americans.
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By: Cory McCray
“Don’t young workers deserve a shot at being a part of the middleclass?” Across the country, many local, state, and federal governments have been restructuring their wages, health benefits, and retirement systems. While many workers have been affected, the ones that are most adversely affected are young workers. Young workers that are still [...]
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Many people may equate middle class jobs with people who worked at the steel plant in Sparrow’s Point, downtown Baltimore at Domino Sugar, or one of the numerous Can Manufacturing Companies that once dominated Maryland. What we fail to remember is that in the commercial food industry we had [...]
On April 5, 2011, the Young Trade Unionists held their general meeting and We Are One Event. We were joined by Baltimore City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke and Maryland & DC State Federation President Fred Mason. There were over a hundred people in attendance while we watched the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speech [...]
As America positions itself away from the manufacturing industry and moves in the direction of the service industry, we find that some young workers don’t believe the white collared world needs the labor movement. As some young workers graduate from college where the labor movement was rarely talked about in history books, or may live in states where they have rewritten history, we find that some of those young workers don’t feel as though we need the labor movement. Let’s just consider the keen, young, cut throat worker who will stop at nothing to be the boss, even those young workers don’t feel as though we need the labor movement.
