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Dear Union Leader,
CNN’s Lou Dobbs has made it official—we’re in the
middle of an economic War on the Middle Class. Because of this, we
have an opportunity to offer a union solution to the problems facing
the American middle class. In doing so, we can improve the image of
unions and increase membership.
We can do this by getting the word out that labor
unions built the middle class and that labor unions can save the
middle class now. Organized labor can return us to an economy that
works for everyone, not just the privileged few.
Wages have been stagnant while corporate profits and
kingly fortunes have grown beyond belief. With due respect to my
academic colleagues and the theories they have developed, “Let’s
find a way to pay our workers less and keep more for ourselves” is a
strategy that is neither new nor complicated. The reason we are
playing by these rules is that the balance of power between
organized workers and global corporations has shifted too much
toward the very wealthy
“Let’s have decent wages so we can take care of
ourselves and our country” is also a simple idea. The problem is
that those who would benefit from this policy are not powerful
enough to make it stick. Instead, they have been sold a bill of
goods labeled “trickle down economics” and “the ownership society”.
The middle class is beginning to see that the promise of these
policies is empty.
Union-based economic power, not corporate rhetoric, is
the only realistic hope for the vast majority of Americans.
Individuals acting alone in a world of corporate giants cannot
balance power in a way that results in a healthy economy. And
without that balance of power, we will get more free trade, more
substandard wages, more trouble for the middle class, and an economy
that grinds to a halt as working people can no longer afford to buy
what they produce.
Surely, developing economic policies that benefit the
middle class will take good political leadership and good policy
thinkers. But none of this will amount to much if we don’t have a
more powerful middle class to back it up. This is why it is so
important that we support and encourage union membership and
participation. For without a powerful economic base to nourish them,
good ideas will wither on the vine.
How do we substantially increase union participation
among American workers? We must position unions as the solution to
the economic problems facing the American middle class. In as many
ways as possible, to as many people as possible, we must hammer home
this message:
Broad participation in labor unions is essential to
sustaining the middle class.
We can do this by using whatever resources we have to
develop a positive media presence in newspapers, radio, and
television. We can develop spokespeople at the local and national
level who will represent us as we are, not as corporations want us
to look. We can build stronger working relationships between union
leadership and politicians who support the union solution.
Here’s what I can do to help build union support and
membership. With my new book Middle Class * Union Made, I provide an
independent, academic analysis of the problems facing the middle
class and how unions are the solution. As you read this short,
to-the-point book, I’m sure you will agree that it is refreshing to
have an economist saying something besides the nonsense we are so
used to: “unions are dead”, “unions destroy our global
competitiveness”, and so on.
What I’m hoping will happen is that locals across the
country will buy the book under a special program for only $4.00 per
copy and give them away. Some will go to members to provide hope and
a tool they can use in promoting a positive view of unions. Some
will go to fellow workers who are not now in a union. Some will go
to politicians at all levels to help them see what unions really do
for the entire economy, and why it is so important that they support
unions.
I will also be working hard to do my part in getting
the union message out into the media. I have learned first-hand that
this message plays very well in the press. People are worried about
the middle class, but don’t know what to do. Unions as a solution,
not a problem, seems like a new idea to many people. In the few
months my book has been out, I have been on CNN, on radio shows from
coast to coast, and in dozens of newspapers. No matter where I go,
people respond very well to the “save the middle class” theme.
I will be writing newspaper opinion articles and making
them available to union leaders for use in their newsletters and web
sites. I’m also hoping you will try to get them printed in local
newspapers. There is no charge for you in using the articles. Check
my web site on a regular basis to get new ones.
There is much more to be done and it will take all of
us to put the resources together to make a difference. I am
confident that we can do this if we all work together. I appreciate
your support in this important work that will benefit unions, the
middle class, and the American economy. You can count on my support
as well.
In solidarity,
Richard A. Levins
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