There has been a lot of talk these days about the role of unions and how the labor movement built the middle class in our country. We are fortunate at MSU to have a strong local union in the APA/MEA/NEA, giving us an equal voice at the table to negotiate any issue that impacts our wages, hours, and conditions of employment.
Yet, organized labor in our state and across the country has been under attack for decades with devastating results for the middle class. Wages have not kept up with inflation, even though American workers are the world’s most productive.
When it comes to legislative changes to public employment and higher education, we have had our fair share of battles. But the most recent years have provided not only an increase in legislation being introduced but also a greater veracity to diminish our role as professionals.
We all know that we have become targets. Our very existence is being challenged.Corporate special interests are trying to strip our collective bargaining rights and eliminate our ability to collect dues. Many are trying to silence our voices and end democracy in the workplace.
These attacks have absolutely nothing to do with improving public education or advancing the middle class. Worse yet, as the effort to diminish unions receives greater financial support from a few wealthy elite, without a strong labor movement, both union and nonunion workers have no real avenue to compel employers to provide decent wages, affordable health care, and retirement security.
The current trend pushes our country to the mercy of corporations. Some anti-union organizations, like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), have been working to achieve unfettered corporate interference in the legislative process, hosting conferences with lawmakers and crafting “model†legislation to further the goals of corporate America.
Lawmakers push much of the legislation word-for-word in statehouses around the country, and here in Michigan, manipulating the democratic process. Effectively, corporate lobbyists financially support seated legislators and use them as a conduit to introduce bills in our state legislature.
Interesting, ALEC and many other shadowy corporate lobby conglomerates are certified as a 501(c)(3) exempt non-profit. They maintain their organizations merely reimburse public officials for their work on legislation and claim it isn’t lobbying but instead educating legislators. Yet, with the media asking questions of public officials’ connections to these organizations, everyday Americans are noticing how entities like ALEC are facilitating a corporate takeover of our democracy.