"If it weren't for the unions, you'd be working for peanuts!"

I am grateful that I do not have to work on Labor Day, but will get paid for it anyway.  I had to work the Saturday and Sunday before Labor Day this year, but I am grateful for that.  I hear about so many people being out of work lately, that I am grateful to have work.  I am also grateful to have the day off because I predict that by the end of the decade, Labor Day will no longer be a legal holiday.  Labor Day reminds me of other things that I should be grateful for.  In some parts of the world, Labor Day is called Eight Hour Day.  Think of that.  We take for granted so many things that the labor unions negotiated for us, such as not being expected to work more than eight hours a day or 40 hours a week without being paid time and a half or compensatory time off.

I remember witnessing an argument between my grandfather and one of his friends when I was a kid.  My grandfather's friend had said something about unions being useless or that they had outlived their usefulness.  My grandfather said "If it weren't for the unions, you'd be working for peanuts!"  I remember that when I hear about union-busting legislation in Ohio and Wisconsin.  The unions are almost dead.  Much of it is their own fault.  They allowed themselves to be corrupted, and they did not share a global vision of business with employers.  In many cases, they priced themselves out of markets.  Corporations determined that they could get higher quality work for less money in foreign countries.  Ohio and Wisconsin are probably just the first two cash-strapped state governments to refuse to continue to pay for unaffordable salaries and benefits.

As the unions die, we can all expect to see the benefits they negotiated for their members fade away.  Many of these benefits apply to all of us, not just union members.  The laws of supply and demand will give employers greater negotiating power as unemployment remains high.  We will all be competing with each other for fewer jobs, so employers will hire those of us who will settle for lower pay and fewer benefits.  We can expect to see less paid time off, less coverage for health care insurance and longer workdays and workweeks.  We can expect working conditions to deteriorate.  Laws governing these things will either not be enforced or will be weakened or repealed.

I hope my predictions are wrong.  I would like to have Labor Day as a paid holiday until I retire, and would like my son to be able to take a long weekend when he joins the workforce.  I hope we can remember the power  of collective bargaining, and learn to use it wisely.