By David K. Shipler
No
political movement in America can match the dazzling facility with words
mastered by conservative Republicans. From “death tax” to “pro-life,” they
brand complex issues with simplistic slogans that slide easily into
conversation. So it has been with “right-to-work” laws, just passed in
Michigan, and now on the books in 24 states.
Like the
“right to life,” the “right to work” is not a right but a diminution of a
right, one that has contributed to the lowest labor union membership in decades,
currently just over half the rate of thirty years ago. Only 6.9 percent of
those employed in the private sector belong to unions, which are nearly extinct
in the free enterprise economy. The unions’ last bastion is in government,
where 28.1 percent of federal, 31.5 percent of state, and 43.2 percent of local
government employees (mostly teachers, firefighters, and police officers) are
unionized. This leaves the country’s overall union membership, public and
private, at 11.8 percent, down from 20.1 percent when comparable data
collection began in 1983.
The result
is not a free market in labor but a rigged market, one in which the seller is
relatively powerless next to the buyer. No seller of her labor to Walmart can
bargain alone against the gargantuan buyer, the employer who unilaterally sets
the price. Low-skilled workers, especially, are not in a position to negotiate
individually; with no coin of professional talent to put on the table, they
must bargain collectively or not at all.
