When I told my boss about my father’s position as the leader of a prominent labor union, he responded the way a lot of people do: “Your dad, he must be a real legbreaker.” My father, a legbreaker? My dad is a sweet man who plants the daisies in our family’s front yard and bought me my senior prom dress. He’s a foodie who has taken me to every quality pizza joint in the tri-state area. “Legbreaker” would not make the list of adjectives I’d use to describe him. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time I’ve heard the term in reference to my dad, and it wouldn’t be the last.
I won’t pretend to be an expert on the subject of the American organized labor movement, or on the subject of worker’s rights. But, I am an expert on my father, and I assure you he has never personally broken anyone’s leg. So why is this term so frequently used? Sadly, it’s a product of the historic association between unions and brutality. Some labor leaders have been connected to the mob or various local thug organizations, but this is by no means the norm. The American labor movement has generally been one of peaceful and rational negotiation. Today, union members continue to argue their cause in a passive manner, but more aggressive factions have once again come to define the entire endeavor. Once seen as the advocates of the American worker, unions are now depicted as the enemy.
Because this movement has been my father’s life’s work, I feel a strong personal connection to unions. Thanks to unions, I’ve been afforded many luxuries, as well as just basic conveniences, in my life. In fact, we all have, but most don’t even realize it. Unions paved the way for all American workers to strive for a higher standards of living and quality working rights. All too often, though, their accomplishments seem to be forgotten. The death of unions has been a story for nearly 40 years.
On one hand, media outlets are to blame for unions’ mischaracterization. On the other, we can blame the organizations themselves. Many labor organizations are much too closely tied to politics. Rather than working together to establish a national message with national standards, unions have thrown their weight behind political parties or candidates that they feel will safeguard their interests. The problem is, even the politicians they endorse rarely prioritize labor issues. Lately there has been little protection of workers rights, which only continue to diminish across the United States.
Sadly, as the American workforce has evolved, labor unions have admittedly become something of an archaic and outdated institution.
At one point in time, Americans valued integrity and cooperation in the workplace. Now, it’s every man for himself. In my opinion, teamwork and brotherhood are critical to the efficiency of any business or operation. Losing sight of this means we’re all alone out there in the workforce, with few to call on for help, and fewer to guide us as we learn.
Why should students care? Maybe we don’t now, but we will. Unlike many of our parents or grandparents, most of us won’t work for the same company for our whole lives. What happens when we retire, and the pensions we built, those 401(k) programs in which we invested so much, go unmatched? When social security ceases to exist? What about when retirement comes? By the looks of it, retirement will eventually go hand-in-hand with death: we’ll all be working until the day we die. The rights and benefits—including retirement — which labor unions strived for so many years are slowly disappearing, and no one, not even labor unions, is doing anything about it. While their organizations may be surviving, they are operating more like private corporations, protecting their singular interests rather than insuring the quality and endurance of the message and movement.
If I’ve learned anything from my father’s critiques of the cause about which he is so passionate, it’s that rather than being so highly politicized and propagandized, unions need to cooperate, in accordance with the values they supposedly advocate, to establish a unified and resilient front. In addition, unions must focus more on educating their members as well as the general public, which would prevent the proliferation of stereotypes and the wrong messages.
In our generation, I fear that no one is asking, “Who’s looking out for my rights as an employee?” It’s a role that labor unions are increasingly unable to fill. Without them, no one has our backs as workers. It would be a terrible shame to squander the gains that so many in the labor movement, like my father, worked to accomplish.
