Trumka: Unions Key to Creating New Middle Class

by Seth Michaels, Aug 31, 2009

As the nation works to recover from recession and move into the decades to come, will we simply re-create the old economy or we will build a healthy new economy for the 21st century? And what role will the union movement have in answering that question? These issues were the subjects of a conversation with AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka this morning.

In an address sponsored by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Trumka discussed health care, the Employee Free Choice Act, economic recovery and the future of unions. (You can read Trumka’s speech here.)

We’re not going to get ahead by mimicking the mistakes of the past and re-creating the cycles of debt bubbles and busts, Trumka said, but by giving workers the chance to earn their way into the middle class.

We don’t have a moment to spare….It wasn’t the labor movement that got us into this mess, but we are going to be the people who get us out of it.

You aren’t going to rebuild the economy without increasing wages, and the fastest, surest way to raise wages is the collective bargaining process….Unions built the first American middle class, and they will build the new middle class.

Calling the current moment “an era of change for workers,” Trumka said we need to address the problems of today’s workforce, including contingent workers like temporaries and free-lancers. We need to show that unions have something to offer young workers who are too often saddled with debt and deprived of health and retirement benefits, Trumka said.

A revitalized and healthy union movement will help hold corporations accountable and put wealth back in the hands of the workers who create it—and this starts with listening to the concerns and needs of young workers. In addition, we need to reach out to make sure that those who have historically been left behind or excluded—like women and minorities—have the same opportunity as everyone else to join the middle class:

We dream of a country where all workers are treated with respect and paid for what they actually earn….Here in our America, we think everyone ought to have a seat at the table.

In addition to providing workers with power in the workplace, Trumka said, unions need to fight for them “in the courthouse, in the state house and in the White House.” We can’t shut down the process of educating and mobilizing workers at the grassroots level the day after Election Day—we need the ability to challenge legislators who might forget about their promises after they get elected, he said.

In particular, Trumka said he expects the Employee Free Choice Act to pass this year, in a form that fits the critical principles underlying the bill: the freedom to form a union through a fair process without management intimidation, real penalties for companies that break the law when workers are trying to form unions and a guarantee that workers who do choose a union can bargain for a first contract.

Trumka said there have been two economies operating in America: the real economy and the financial economy. The financial economy was a tool to help the real economy, he said, but for a few people, it became an end in itself—and that small minority prospered while everyone else paid the price. We can’t go back to the way things were, Trumka said:

If all we’re going to do is create the same economy we had before, it will have the same result. We have to ask: What’s going to be the new driver?

You can see video of Trumka’s talk, and the discussion that followed, here.

Print This Article | E-Mail This Article |Comments (1)