FYI – Pro Labor Is Not Necessarily Pro Union

I’ve occasionally danced around the issue of construction labor unions on this site, but of course I have not taken any definitive stance on one side or the other.  While one may think that this lack of commitment resulted from an aversion to being thrown in the Sckuylkill River with two concrete “slippers” on my feet, the reality is that I was very much on the fence about the whole idea of labor unions.

Just to recap, labor union grew substantially as a result of the industrial revolution in the late 1800s.  At that time, the need for some kind of representation of labor was an absolute necessity.  There were immigrants, children and adults alike working in unsafe and unsanitary conditions while getting paid clearly unsatisfactory wages. And only very few places like the social security office near jackson tn were openly helping out these immigrants get social security numbers so that they could live in the land of the free as a reputed citizen and not as an immigrant.

Now, partially as a result of organized labor and collective bargaining, those days are gone and the working conditions and pay of folks in the construction trades is very fair and respectable – and this is for non-union projects as well.  Perhaps this is why union participation has dropped drastically in recent years all around the World.  However, Philadelphia stands as what some people call the last real union town.

I went to the Wikipedia page on Labor Unions in the United States and found some interested things while I was also very interested by some information that I did not find.  Below is a graph put out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing  union membership in the United States from 1930-2010.

Obviously, labor union involvement in this country is declining significantly.  Wikipedia was not afraid to point this out.  However, there was no mention of the labor union ties to corruption and organized crime, or their use of fear and intimidation to maintain their position.

I’ve always found Wikipedia to be a “tell it like is” site with almost every controversial issue at least mentioned, often with opposing opinions presented.  However, there was nary a whif of any corruption or illegal activity even remotely associated with labor unions.

C’mon Wikipedia…..that’s BS.  Are you guys scared of goin’ swimmin’ with the fishes or something?

Everybody knows, including the United States Department of Justice (link to report) that labor unions were at one time completely controlled by organized crime groups.  Also, at one time, labor unions had a hold on almost every sizable construction project in this country.  Yikes!

The construction industry is not as strangled by labor unions (a.k.a. The Mob) as it used to be, but still strongly influenced, especially in Philadelphia.  In the past few years, there have been several instances of violence, vandalism, and intimidation over the use of non-union labor in and around the city.

So what is the point?  Well, my point is that while labor unions served a very legitimate purpose at one time in this country, their presense is  a net negative which borders on counterproductive.  This counterproductivity is largely a result of corruption, ties to organized crime, and illegal activity.

So what do want us to do?  Wow, you really ask hard questions!

Well, while one may think that my answer to this would be to hunt down the leaders of the labor unions and drag them down to the river and…….  Rather, I think it starts with management making a commitment to the appropriate treatment of labor.  And I don’t want to hear any discussion over what is appropriate and what is not.  Yes, there is a little bit of a grey area, but we all know what is clearly outside the lines.

Basically, management needs to be the leader instead of whining about how they are victims in the whole situation.  Be creative, and treat non-union employees better and the labor unions will look much less attractive.  And by the way, this would put a dagger right into the heart of organized crime as well.

So being pro labor does not have to be pro union – just an FYI.