NEWS ARTICLE - April 12, 2010

From the Desk of Mario Delgado:


How others see us

 

I’ve been serving local 3 as a field representative and organizer for 4 years now, and one of the most noticeable problems that I have noticed, is the public’s perception of what a Union is and what the Labor movement is all about. We have a lot going for us. We have people, stories, and a cause. We’re the underdogs battling the bad guys. So why it is that Unions feel “outdated” and untouched by “popular culture”? Why are we considered lazy, unproductive, and difficult to deal with, spoiled, overpaid, stickler for rules, whiners, angry outsiders; why are we blamed for economic failures; why do our views, as seen by others, seem ineffective and dated?

 

A huge portion of the general public and unfortunately, a lot of our own members are completely unaware of the great contributions and gains that Unions have made over the last 150 years. What probably is more of a problem than the lack of information are the many misconceptions about unions and their members.

 

The perception exists that Unions have become so powerful that high wages and benefits are a hindrance to the recovery of the economy. Remember the “jobs bank” issue with the Auto Workers? They were criticized for impeding carmakers’ pleas for government assistance. There’s also the issue of the teachers union making it difficult to fire bad teachers. How about the Public Union employees (and their pensions), who are being accused of draining resources in the midst of a financial crisis for either the State or whatever municipality they may be working at.

 

When was the last time that you saw either on television or in a newspaper or magazine something worthwhile about a Union? If you do see anything, it is most likely going to emphasize on strikes, corruption or violence.

 

When people think about unions, the first things they associate with it are strikes. A lot of non-union workers seem to have the impression that unions strike often and that they are disruptive. They are also seen as inconvenient. When a non-union worker see’s the “rat”, they take it personally, furthering their misconceptions about the Unions.

 

The second thing that unions are associated with is greed. Yes, greed! Go figure?! We are supposedly responsible for obscenely over inflated wages which cause high prices and inflation. The news media itself adds confusion to this when they start spreading misinformation about wage and benefits of unionized workers. Remember the $70.00 per hour auto worker? The news media misinterpreted that slight piece of info and all hell was let loose on the auto workers. Yes we make more than our non-union counterparts, but there are many people and workers who simply believe that we do not earn or deserve this higher rate of pay. They still see that as greed.

 

Another issue that is often associated with union’s image problem, and is probably the one thing that has influenced people’s attitudes about unions in general, and that would be union corruption. Stories about union corruption often make the front page or are the lead story for the newscast that night. When this happens, images tend to linger and are reinforced every time new allegations are raised. Accounts of union ties to organized crime leave impressions on people’s minds, even if those events occurred years ago.

 

Another negative impact on the public’s perception of unions is that supposedly we often engage in violence in an effort to achieve our objective. Like the other issues I mentioned, any violence involving unions will likely find its way to the evening news. And the images that are projected will have a lasting impression on those who see them.

 

These misconceptions are dealt with on a daily basis by me and your other field representatives. Through our course of the work day; we come in contact with those who believe in these misconceptions. It is during this time that we have the opportunity to tell our side of the story. Most of the time, those people are set in their beliefs, and all appears hopeless, but we must never stop. We need to keep reinforcing our message, whether it is at the job site, through the community, or the media.

 

When we are out organizing in this brutal economy, we have the difficult task of orchestrating a delicate balance: by appearing inflexible in our demands, we risk coming off as too greedy with prospective contractors amid a recession. On the other hand, we also have to preserve the interests of our future and current members regarding any type of concession.



Nevertheless, companies and municipalities everywhere are using the recession to push union and non-union workers to make drastic concessions in wages and benefits. Unions have been fighting to improve working people's lives, but we clearly have a lot of work in getting our message across, especially when dealing with the misconceptions as I stated above.

 

You, the local 3 member should be well-prepared to counter these misconceptions about Unions. Attend a Chapter Meeting or contact a field representative for information on how to counter these perceptions. Knowing more about your Union and how it functions will help us all in the long run.

 

If you think this is all just “talk” to fill space, think about how many jobs out there have gone “non-union” because of these misconceptions, especially the one about union labor costing too much. That one in particular is getting serious attention among developers and municipalities that have projects coming up.

 

Food for Thought:

 

Public reaction to labor unions is one of the longest-running trends The Gallup Poll has maintained. Gallup first asked "Do you approve or disapprove of labor unions?" in 1936, a year after Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act establishing the right of most private-sector employees to join unions, to bargain collectively with their employers, and to strike. That first poll found 72% of Americans approving of unions and only 20% disapproving.

 

Gallup finds organized labor taking a significant image hit in the past year. While 66% of Americans continue to believe unions are beneficial to their own members, a slight majority now say unions hurt the nation's economy. More broadly, fewer than half of Americans -- 48%, an all-time low -- approve of labor unions, down from 59% a year ago.

 

These results are from the 2009 installment of Gallup's annual Work and Education survey, conducted Aug. 6-9. The 48% of Americans now approving of unions represents the first sub-50% approval since Gallup first asked the question in the 1930s. The previous low was 55%, found in both 1979 and 1981.