After reading my post on Outsourcing,
my good friend Diane asked where I thought labor unions fit into the picture,
and whether or not I thought they perhaps had “gone too far.” Great question. Here are my thoughts on the matter.
The
purpose of a labor union is to safeguard the rights and working conditions of
our American workforce. (http://www.howstuffworks.com/labor-union.htm) Put in place
during the American Revolution, Unions regulated the working environments: making
factories safer; setting minimum wage requirements; preventing children from
being exploited. Basically, Unions
protected the people from being taken advantage of by employers. As you can imagine, this quickly became a
thorn in the employers’ sides- with unions now demanding fairness on the behalf of the employees,
suddenly this leveled the playing field.
Frankly, the only people that would have been upset about being
regulated are probably those who were profiting the highest by taking unfair
advantage the most. Factory owners who were
already treating people fairly would not have had much to complain about. In fact, those of us who make it a habit of looking out for our fellow (wo)man are likely to be in support of rights groups such as labor unions.
Do
I think labor unions pushed too hard, thus “forcing” U.S. manufacturers to go
outsource their operations overseas?
Absolutely not. If anything, the
same greed that made labor unions necessary in the first place is still alive
and well; now U.S. manufacturers have figured out how to get around those pesky
regulations like minimum wage and human rights issues- by building factories in
countries where unions don’t exist! I
can hear it now, “so it’s the unions’ fault our jobs went overseas!” No.
This is what I was referring to in my original article as the need for
Protectionism. It is also in part what
is fueling the Occupy Movement in this country.
When big business makes profitting
more important than people, the only winner is big business. Such is the case today, and it’s out of
control. A very slim percentage of
people are amassing multi-million and billion dollar fortunes by taking
advantage of tax loopholes in this country, and human rights loopholes in foreign
countries. Either way you look at it, it
is still wrong for industry to profit at the demise of the consumer, or in this
case, the worker. It boils down to
greed. How rich does Apple need to be?
Their profits every year are in the Billions. Who benefits from this? And on whose backs are those fortunes
made? Today it is desperate Chinese factory
workers who don’t have the protection of labor unions. Is this better for profits? You bet!
But is it RIGHT? Does the end
justify the means? In my opinion it does
not.
Chinese
factories have now installed suicide prevention nets around the buildings
because so many people there are in such a state of mental anguish they simply
can’t bear another day of the abuse.
This abuse is being driven by us, Diane- it’s a machine. Consumers
demand products. Manufacturers supply
those products. Demand goes up, and
manufacturers seize the opportunity to capitalize on the demand. Ten percent profit seems good, until cutting
a corner turns it into 20%. Then cutting
another corner turns it into more profits.
Ad campaigns create a buzz, making us want the next gadget, newer,
sleeker, faster- the manufacturer is no longer happy with 50% profit margins
and sees he can double, triple, quadruple his profits by taking production
overseas to China. More factories see
how it’s being done and follow suit, and pretty soon nothing is being made in
America any more, the manufacturing sector of our workforce has nearly ceased
to exist as a result, and people in less developed areas of the world desperate
for work are willing to put up with the abuse in exchange for jobs making our
gadgets. The American economy suffers as
a result, with the 99% getting poorer, while the 1% is getting fatter. This is a dangerous imbalance, and is why so
many of us are crying foul. This is why
the playing field must be leveled again, this time on a global scale. And while that’s going to piss some rich
people off, it still is the right thing to do.
Protecting
the well-being of another person, particularly when that person is at a lesser advantage than you are, is never a bad thing. Labor unions are absolutely not to blame when
it comes to the issue of outsourcing of American jobs. American workers demand a certain standard
when it comes to working environments and I believe they have every right to do
so, to be treated humanely, to be paid fairly, and to be kept out of harm’s way
while doing their jobs. Demanding
fairness is not wrong. But denying it
is.
