Modernizing the Labour Movement

Let's touch on the bigger problem with unionization in this day and age.  It's not that the whole idea is antiquated.  It's not that unions are irrelevant.  And it's not that there is no need for unions.  We do need unions to keep the powers that be in check.

It's the scope of the union that's the problem.  It's too small and territorial.  It can't compete against the corporations, whose fingers have crossed oceans and have taken advantage of their new found powers to force their workers to concede things they normally wouldn't, with the threat of closing their plants and throwing them out of work.  What was once unconscionable has become acceptable in today's economic climate of shock capitalism.  And things seem more hopeless than ever before.

But does it have to be this way?

Let's face facts.  Our governments have sold us out.  Rather than defend the interests of the people who elect them, they have in fact acted against our own interests.  A lot of those people have vilified unions as anti-democratic, elitist and neglectful.  How many times have we heard the meme "union bosses" wielded like a machete in the hands of a madman?  A lot of that criticism stems from the negotiation team refusing to put a proposition to a vote.  But it should be understood that holding such meetings on the insistance of the employer has "waste of time" written all over it.  The union elects the negotiation team to negotiate as instructed by the membership.  So why all the hate?  Part of it is envy and the other part of it is the fact that the union will defend those who really shouldn't be defended, but in their view if they throw one of their own under the bus, then what's to stop others from the same fate.

So for one thing, unions need to choose their battles a little more wisely.  Even the membership needs to be kept honest now and then, so perhaps they need to re-assess that end and stop defending those who don't deserve to be defended.  They sometimes have sacrifice the few for the sake of the many.

There is also a lot work needed in the way unions are presented.  They need to push back on the "entitlement" meme that has been going around and talk about how there may not be anyone to buy the cars, the houses or even the furniture that makes life easier to live without unions.  What about those vacations?  Who's going to take  them?  I recall an interesting epiphany made by a CFO for a company I did work for, who pointed out that it was the people on the production floor that made money for the company and everyone else was merely overhead.  That's a winning line right there.

Up to now, it's the unions that changed the way people are employed, but with companies going global, the companies gain more leverage and are better able to get concessions from their workers.  And with nationalism being ramped up as a diversion, the unions can ill afford to take the bait.  It's time for the unions to cross the borders, get international, and go global.  The only way to defeat a multinational corporation is to go multinational yourself.

Show the world what unions are truly about and get connected.  Gain partnerships, even start investing in companies that support unions.  And if the goal posts are moved, move with them.

The world is changing and the unions have only two choices: adapt or perish.