President Obama and Unions

Dear Friends,

Just after President Obama's State of the Union address, Rachel Maddow ran a piece on how the political center in this country has moved dramatically to the right.  Here is a link to that portion of her show.


As a result of that segment and the recent attempts by Republicans to destroy what is left of the labor movement in this country, I looked around for more information about President Eisenhower and his views on unions.  Thanks to Peter Friedman (here) I found a speech that President Eisenhower made to the AFL-CIO in December, 1955.  You should read it all but here are a couple of paragraphs. 

You of organized labor and those who have gone before you in the union movement have helped make a unique contribution to the general welfare of the Republic–the development of the American philosophy of labor. This philosophy, if adopted globally, could bring about a world, prosperous, at peace, sharing the fruits of the earth with justice to all men.  It would raise to freedom and prosperity hundreds of millions of men and women-and their children-who toil in slavery behind the Curtain.   One principle of this philosophy is: the ultimate values of mankind are spiritual; these values include liberty, human dignity, opportunity and equal rights and justice...

The second principle of this American labor philosophy is this: the economic interest of employer and employee is a mutual prosperity.  Their economic future is inseparable. Together they must advance in mutual respect, in mutual understanding, toward mutual prosperity. Of course, there will be contest over the sharing of the benefits of production; and so we have the right to strike and to argue all night, when necessary, in collective bargaining sessions. But in a deeper sense, this surface struggle is subordinate to the overwhelming common interest in greater production and a better life for all to share...

The third principle is this: labor relations will be managed best when worked out in honest negotiation between employers and unions, without Government’s unwarranted interference.
This principle requires maturity in the private handling of labor matters within a framework of law, for the protection of the public interest and the rights of both labor and management. The splendid record of labor peace and unparalleled prosperity during the last 3 years demonstrates our industrial maturity.

In the fifty-five years since President Eisenhower made that speech to the AFL-CIO, union membership and the influence of unions on our politics have been in steady decline.  Not coincidentally, over essentially the same period of time the wages of the middle class have remained at best stagnant on a constant dollar basis while the rich have become incredibly richer and the number of poor has grown dramatically.


The Republicans today are out to destroy what little remains of the labor movement in this country.  In the private sector today only about 7% of workers are represented by a union while about 37% of public employees are represented by a union.  In Wisconsin today, public employees are about to lose their right to collective bargaining.  If the Republicans are successful in Wisconsin, they will move quickly to other states and the labor movement in this country will be dead.  That is bad for all workers.  That is bad for our economy.  That is bad for our democracy.  If public employee unions are destroyed, there will be no countervailing force to the unlimited funds that corporations can spend to buy elections.

The website of the Democratic Party starts out with the following paragraph:

For more than 200 years, Democrats have represented the interests of working families, fighting for equal opportunities and justice for all Americans.

So how can it be that President Obama who is nominally the head of the Democratic Party can be so far to the right of President Eisenhower, a Republican President, who was considered a conservative 55 years ago?

President Obama has made a few statements in tepid support of the Wisconsin protesters. That is not enough. President Obama needs to fight for the labor movement in this country.  President Obama should be in Madison, Wisconsin today speaking out about the need for unions and collective bargaining.

Unions have done great things for this country and for all workers.  We have unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, 40 hour work week, child labor laws, workplace safety laws, and many other things that all employees take for granted today because of unions and the labor movement.  We need to fight to preserve the labor movement.  It is important to all of us.

Please contact President Obama (here) and tell him to be a Democrat and stand up for the working people of this country.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal