Over at Talking Points Memo’s sister site TPMCafe, Nathan Newman is challenging the online progressive left — the “netroots” — to start grappling with one of their longstanding blind spots: workers’ rights and the decline of the American Dream.
Yesterday he asked “Do Blogs Take Labor Issues Seriously?”
Part of economic populism is actually caring enough to know the details of how corporations are screwing workers every day, whether in the intricacies of labor law or the fine print of trade agreements. And the difference between the modern history of elite liberalism and economic populism has been that liberals know chapter-and-verse on the legal details of process rights, but don’t pay that much attention to these details of corporate exploitation and power.
And today in “So You Want to Know More About Unions?” he’s posted a great collection of links for progressives who want to start learning about the modern labor movement, rather than just relying on outdated stereotypes.
Here at CtW Connect, this is a question we’ve been grappling with for some time now (see this post from a year ago for an example). And certainly there are some bloggers who are aware of how big a crisis the American Dream faces today; check out our blogroll over there on the right side of the page for some of the best. But clearly there’s still a lot of room for improvement.
I’m going to be at the Netroots Nation conference next week to help move that process forward. Part of that process is a panel we’ve organized at the event called “Growing the American Dream Movement” that will be a great introduction to today’s labor movement — if you’re interested in the subject and you’re going to be at Netroots Nation, stop by and bring your best questions. Panelists will include David Bonior of American Rights at Work and Tom Woodruff, director of our Strategic Organizing Center, so this is an opportunity to take your questions right to the top.
But that’s just one step in the process. So hit the comments section and share your thoughts — why do you think workers’ issues are so often AWOL on the blogs? And what (if anything) should we be doing to bring them closer together?
Comments (2)
Comments posted to CtW Connect are the sole property of the individual posting them, and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of Change to Win, its affiliated unions, or its leadership.
I would definitely love to connect with you at Netroots, as this is a big issue we are concerned with/paying attention to. I have bookmarked this post, as it is so rich with references I'll be looking back on.
Posted by Alex Steed [of Make Something Happen] on July 11, 2008 at 5:09 PM
Posted on July 11, 2008 at 5:09 PM
Union labor issues are currently found in only 8% of the private sector American workplace---but historically, we are 100% responsible for most of the on the job benefits and conditions in existence across the nation. The workers who organized and gained improvements over the years, such as the eight-hour-day, forty-hour week, paid vacations, sick pay,paid health care, and pensions are but silent footnotes in a labor history paper these days.
American workers have taken for granted that whatever gains we have enjoyed as workers exist because of the generosity of the employer! Tell that to anyone whose relatives' heads were split open by the baton of a Pinkerton guard, or who met with some other violent end at the hands of union-busting vigilantes. The fact of the matter is, that union workers have taken great personal risks and endured incredible hardships in order to extract those improvements back in the day.For any worker to concede a hard-fought benefit back to an employer who opposed it in the first place---well, that's not a victory for our side.
So why, then, is it so easy for us to concede them? We trade off our gains in negotiations a little bit at a time to keep the core conditions---and then the employer comes after the core! Look back at the 1920's and how horrible the robber barons were---do you see the parallel to today's problems? And yet, people are so afraid to lose what little they can get on the job that they don't dare ask for more.
Labor has to step up and reclaim what is ours---our time, our sweat, our tears. When an employer asks you to work, after you pass his or her muster, do you have to check your soul at the door? Do you still have the same rights as you did before you clocked in? Are you under constant surveillance and held to a separate standard of behavior? Do you get to pick and choose how and when you work, or does your employer keep you off balance with weekly schedule changes? After all your hard work, are you still without health care or a secure retirement?
We're almost all of us one paycheck away from financial ruin. We're all suffering in this current economic climate, having to choose between medicine or groceries, or whether or not to take an extra trip because we can't afford the gas.When we face these challenges as individuals, we suffer. When we face these challenges together, we can change the way we see the problem and find solutions together.
But most of us, after a hard day's work, go home and close the door behind us, too tired to face the reality and preparing for the next grueling day. Glad to have that little time with our families; happy to relax a little while we still can. It's a lot to ask of a working man or woman to participate a little more in their own democracy---but we need to ask. We need more workers to come out and stand and be counted; to face these challenges head on.
Posted by Cathi Schafer on July 12, 2008 at 1:01 PM
Posted on July 12, 2008 at 1:01 PM