In the 1979 film Norma Rae, Academy Award-winner Sally Field, playing a
textile worker, chats with Ron Liebman, a union organizer. I know the
unions the only way were gonna get our own voice, make ourselves
better, he tells her. She nods. I guess thats why I push, she says.
Todays labor unions aren't pushing for a voice. They're pushing for
better benefits; they're pushing for higher wages; they're pushing for
more retirement pay. And they're pushing American-style capitalism over
a cliff.
While Americas trade unions are hardly conspiring to bring capitalism
down about our ears, trade union leadership couldn't care less about
the current economic crisis. They're still pushing for their perks. The
union leadership is no longer in business to create decent jobs -- the
union leadership is in business to boost its own power.
Take the Big Three automakers, for example. General Motors Corp., Ford
Motor Co. and Chrysler are in danger of bankruptcy. It isn't because
they lack the technical know-how or the manufacturing capacity -- its
because the United Auto Workers have made the cost of labor untenable.
Writing Nov. 19 in the New York Times, former Michigan Gov. Mitt Romney
stated that because of the UAW, American cars cost an average of $2,000
more to make than foreign cars. The average UAW worker makes $75 per
hour in salary and benefits, as compared to $42-$48 per hour for
workers in Japanese plants in the United States. The average UAW worker
has an expensive health plan including laser eye surgery, hearing aids,
and dental care -- and it costs him just a $10 premium per month. The
retirement plans for UAW workers are even better -- thats why GM has
three times as many retirees on the payroll as active workers. Chrysler
workers get seven weeks of vacation time per year.
While the Big Three struggle to keep out of bankruptcy, the UAW refuses
to sit down at the bargaining table to work out a solution. They insist
instead that U.S. taxpayers bail out the Big Three so that UAW workers
can receive their negotiated benefits. Explains UAW President Ron
Gettelfinger, We do not believe there is any justification for
conditioning assistance to the Detroit-based auto companies on further
deep cuts in wages and benefits for active and retired workers.
Gettelfingers Bailout First strategy essentially turns union members
into government workers -- taxpayer money would be paying for those
plush benefits. But union bosses are more than OK with that -- after
all, they have a cozy relationship with the Democratic Party, which
will soon control both houses of Congress and the White House. Unions
have ensured that the Obama administration will be friendlier than a
tomcat in heat. The UAW leadership unanimously endorsed Obama for
president, and the AFL-CIO spent $53.4 million to get him elected.
Obama has already signaled that he plans to strengthen Americas unions
by introducing the card check program, which eliminates the secret
ballot for workers in any union vote. This essentially allows union
thugs to pressure non-union members into approving unions.
The renewed growth of the private sector union spells disaster for
American industry. With consumers staying home and product prices
dropping rapidly, a free market in labor becomes the most integral
element to economic recovery. Companies must cut costs in order to
remain in business, providing cheap goods that ramp up demand again.
But those cheap goods become unavailable when the cost of labor remains
high. And so the companies shut down, and millions of jobs are lost.
Why would the union bosses allow private businesses to go bankrupt?
Because they aren't uncomfortable with the idea of the government
running American businesses. While unions have generally fallen out of
favor in the private sector -- only 7.5 percent of private sector
workers are unionized -- they've remained stronger than ever in the
public sector, where 35.9 percent of workers were unionized as of 2007.
The strongest unions in the country are all public unions, and
virtually all of them have earned incredible benefits and quasi-tenure
for their members. If private industry is forced to become government
industry, the private sector unions won't mind. They'll simply be
negotiating with the bureaucrats they helped elect rather than the
management they hate.
America is no longer a nation of Norma Raes. We don't need union
heavies breathing down our necks, asking for our protection money while
forcing us into the unemployment lines. No one is reverting to the bad
old days of child labor and worker maltreatment. Once worker safety has
been achieved, the free market must take over, or well all be working
for the government.
Ben Shapiro, 24, is a graduate
of UCLA and Harvard Law School. He is the author of the new book
"Project President: Bad Hair and Botox on the Road to the White House,"
as well as the national bestseller "Brainwashed: How Universities
Indoctrinate America's Youth." To find out more about Ben Shapiro and
read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists,
visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
