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<p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Local
economist Michael Meeropol submitted this to the Springfield Republican, which
did not publish it (no surprise there). Prof. Meeropol retired from
Western New England College at the end of 2008 after 38 years of service.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><b><i>resist the siren song of wage cutting<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText style='text-indent:.5in'><b>THE LABOR MOVEMENT BUILT THE
GREAT AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>The US is facing its gravest economic crisis since the
Great Depression. Last Fall, Congress was stampeded into giving $700
billion to the financial sector with virtually no strings attached. Then
Congress refused to authorize less than $20 billion to help two of the US
automobile giants stay afloat. One of the reasons advanced was that
autoworkers' wages were too high.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>This argument is part of a general campaign that suggests
that in the modern era of globalization, union negotiated wage and benefits
packages are out of date and counter-productive. This campaign is also
aimed at convincing Congress not to pass the <b>Employee Free Choice Act</b>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Virtually the entire organized business lobbying apparatus
is united in attempting to convince the public that the Employee Free Choice
Act is a terrible blow against workers' rights. To hear these individuals
(usually lawyers working for firms dedicated to helping employers defeat union
organizing efforts) tell it, they and their corporate employers are just sick
at heart at the prospect that workers will be denied their rights to a secret
ballot election to determine if they want to be represented by a union.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>So what is the Employee Free Choice Act? Its major
section says, if the majority of workers in a particular company covered by the
National Labor Relations Act show that they want to join a union by signing
membership cards, then the company must recognize and bargain collectively with
that union. Currently, if the majority sign up, then the company may
choose whether to recognize and bargain <b><i>or</i></b>, as is most common, to
require the National Labor Relations Board to conduct a secret ballot election.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Why would such a law be necessary? Why aren't secret
ballots enough? The answer is that employers have proven extremely adept
at delaying the vote once the cards are signed and using the time before the
vote to intimidate pro-union workers and mislead others by controlling the
terms of the debate.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>The election campaign with secret ballots is not enough
to ensure a democratic process. When people run from Congress or the
Presidency, voters have relatively equal access to their positions and the
people running have equal access to the voters. Not so in union
representation elections. Under the current election process, management
has almost unlimited and mandatory access to employees, while union supporters
have almost none. This would be the equivalent, in a congressional election, of
one candidate owning all the local media outlets and denying the candidate's
opponent any access. In addition, management knows who the employees are,
obviously, but union supporters have access very late in the process to a list
of their potential constituents.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>The argument that absent the secret ballot, "labor
goons" will intimidate workers into signing cards even though they do not
want to join a union fails the laugh test because management has much more
power, the power to deprive employees of their livelihood and to control their
pay, hours, and working conditions.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>And they use that power. Kate Bronfenbrenner of
Cornell University conducted a survey of 400 NLRB election campaigns in 1998
and 1999 for the United States Trade Deficit Review Commission. Her
research team found numerous examples of explicit and implicit threats to close
the plant if the union won the election. The report (<i>Uneasy Terrain: The
Impact of Capital Mobility on Workers, Wages, and Union Organizing, </i>p43)
notes that "one in every four employers in our sample discharged workers
for union activity." A major study covering the Chicago area found
that 30% of the companies targeted for union organizing fired pro-union
workers. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Firing and harassment are against the law but the
sanctions are relatively mild (and it takes years to win those cases).
Thus, employers routinely employ this tactic and if they do get
sanctioned by the NLRB, the fine and back wages become a cost of doing business
– well worth the investment because they have kept the union out of their
plants.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>According to survey after survey, a very high percentage
of American workers would like to join unions but they have to this date been
defeated by the ability of management to "win" the organizing
campaigns in a decidedly unlevel playing field. The Employee Free Choice
Act would redress that imbalance. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>The great American middle class was built after World War
II when a high percentage of the workforce was covered by union-negotiated
contracts. As the percentage of the workforce covered by union contracts has
declined, workers' wages have stagnated. In the context of our current
efforts to prevent a re-run of the 1930s, we must remember that the key to a
prosperous business is a prosperous group of workers who can then buy the products
of business.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Congress should pass the Employee Free Choice Act and we
must resist the siren song that suggests wage cutting in places like Detroit
will solve our economic problems. These are two important steps towards
recreating an America where the middle class can rise again.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><i><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>MICHAEL
MEEROPOL<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Professor of Economics, Western New England College,
1970-2008<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas'>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Win
the Employee Free Choice Act - visit </span></i></b><span style='font-size:
11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a
href="http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/"><b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/</span></i></b></a></span><b><i><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>, </span></i></b><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a
href="http://jwj.org/freechoice/index.html"><b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>http://jwj.org/freechoice/index.html</span></i></b></a></span><b><i><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>, and </span></i></b><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a
href="http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion"><b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion</span></i></b></a></span><b><i><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>. <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send an email to </span><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a
href="mailto:wmjwj@wmjwj.org"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>wmjwj@wmjwj.org</span></a></span><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> with a Subject of
"Unsub Workers' Rights" or to </span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a href="mailto:street_heat@pvaflcio.org"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>street_heat@pvaflcio.org</span></a></span><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> with a Subject of
"Unsub Street Heat".<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>[Workers' Rights] posts opportunities for you
to learn about and show solidarity with workplace and working class struggles.
And these events are opportunities for JwJ members to fulfill their pledge: </span><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a
href="http://www.jwj.org/pledge.html"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";text-decoration:none'>"</span><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>I'll be there for workers' rights at
least five times a year!</span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
text-decoration:none'>"</span></a></span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> This is the core mission of Jobs with
Justice (</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a
href="http://www.jwj.org/"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>www.jwj.org</span></a></span><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>), affirming that
workers' rights are human rights. To subscribe, send an email to
wmjwj@wmjwj.org with a Subject of "Subscribe Worker's Rights".<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Western
Mass Jobs with Justice<br>
640 Page Blvd #101<br>
Springfield MA 01104<br>
(413) 827-0301 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Street
Heat is the AFL-CIO mobilization program. [Street Heat] is the e-newsletter of
the Mobilization Committee of the Pioneer Valley Central Labor Council in
cooperation with the Hampshire/Franklin Central Labor Council. All
Affiliates and Delegates to these CLCs receive [Street Heat] unless they opt
out. Other activists may opt in by sending an email to </span><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a
href="mailto:street_heat@pvaflcio.org"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>street_heat@pvaflcio.org</span></a></span><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> with a Subject of
"Subscribe Street Heat".<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Pioneer
Valley Central Labor Council<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>640
Page Blvd<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Springfield
MA 01104<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>(413)
732-7970<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
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