Given the dwindling percentageof private-sector workers who belong to unions — now only about 6% — Big Labor is in big trouble. I know who the troublemakers are because I talk to them every day.
They are business owners who have tried, and in many cases succeeded, in making their workplaces so attractive that employees have little incentive to form a union. In their desire to attract and retain quality workers, they have been particularly creative because in the 20-plus years that I’ve covered the local business community, I’ve written story after story of how local business operators are going the extra mile to make their employees happy. Inside this edition of IB, some of those employers are featured as winners of the 2021 Dane County Small Business Awards.
But labor leaders have reached the point where they need to rig the game. They are moving heaven and earth to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act — the PRO Act — which basically would force workers to unionize. We wrote about the bill in our May magazine, noting it would go so far as to replace secret ballots with public “card check” pledges, wipe out right-to-work laws in the states that have enacted them, and strip employers of the right to make the case against unionization.
Absolutely none of this is necessary to give workers the right to unionize, something they already have. They choose not to exercise it — see Amazon workers in Alabama — for a very simple reason. In most cases, they see no need to join a union. This isn’t 1900, when America’s wealth was concentrated in too few hands and sometimes working conditions were abysmal. The formation of labor unions was a natural consequence of that harsh reality, and while one can argue that unions are a victim of their own success in getting employers to toe the line, the fact that management has responded is something to celebrate.
Amazon workers in Alabama acknowledged as much when they voted overwhelmingly not to join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union. That saga has yet to reach its conclusion after the RWDSU filed objections with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that Amazon intimidated and threatened employees into voting against unionizing.
More likely, the workers who voted not to join the union are happy with their working conditions and preferred to keep the money they would otherwise pay in union dues.
