Union-Busting Spans the Globe as Public Points Finger
by Dee-Dee Goidel
Among the major cities in Great Britain that were fully engaged at the dawn of the European industrial revolution were Dublin, Edinburgh, Belfast, Glasgow and Liverpool. Due to abuses of laborers of all ages, guilds and fledgling unions
became stronger as workers realized that together they could fight for better wages and working conditions. Ultimately, it took an organized leadership many years to develop organizations that could establish fairness in the workplace.
These lessons were relearned during a fascinating trip, run by CSA’s Gary Goldstein, of the British Isles in July. When one travels with Gary, you are assured a trip that is part educational, part recreational. During day trips along the coastline of Ireland, Scotland and England, we became students again, only this time, we absorbed information through a mature perspective influenced by years of personal study, political awareness and work experience.
As we traveled, I read the local newspapers. It was clear that unions are as much the fall guy in Great Britain as they are in the States. Seemingly, everything I read blamed unions for a global economy gone awry, and reflected a frustrated need to point fingers at someone.
While reading the International Herald Tribune, I read a column by longtime US economy reporter David Leonhardt. He said that when he began covering the US economy 11 years ago, it was the envy of the world. Since then, the US has become mired in the worst recession since the 1930s.
Mr. Leonhardt attributes part of the problem to the fact that Americans, and American leaders, do not spend enough time focusing on the nation’s actual economic problems in an effort to determine policies that work. Instead, he wrote, “Americans have effectively decided that because the U.S. is the richest, most successful country in the world, it is guaranteed to remain so.”
That egocentric view is dangerous as it can lead to a smug complacency. If we cannot figure out how to make this political system we call democracy function more effectively, we could easily lose our standing in the world. Civil dialogue with true discussion would perhaps be a better way to advance the nation’s interests than a three-month squabble over ideology and drawing lines in the sand. (You can read Mr. Leonhardt’s original column at http://nyti.ms/qVGVcH.)
UPDATE: We doubled our efforts in 2011, visiting Albany twice this year, once in March and once in June. It was important to maintain a watchful eye on lastminute legislative activities to make sure our health benefits went unchanged. This fall, we plan to revisit our state legislators in their local offices. We’ll also continue meeting with City Council members, as part of our regular activities. In addition, we’re updating our training materials to develop a standard operating manual for our volunteers and to reflect how to use email and other social media in our work.
