The Dangers of Organized Labor's Decline

I am saddened but not surprised by what took place in Michigan yesterday.

I am not a member of a labor Union. I'm a software developer and there are few, if any unions in my profession.

I have very good benefits - 40-hour work week, 4 weeks time off, health insurance, disability, etc.

For these benefits I do not necessarily thank my employer - I thank the Union movement.

Perhaps the decline in Union participation is because the victories it has achieved have largely moved into the mainstream.

(But as we know with examples like Walmart, there is a long way to go.)

I see the defeat of organized labor in Michigan as a Tea Party win, financed by the extreme right oligarchy who are still reeling over the recent Presidential election.

Back in April 2010, when the Tea Party was first gaining strength, I posted a blog stating that the way to defeat them was to display exactly what our world would be like when they came into power:

We are seeing some of this reality now, and my hope is that our citizens wake up to the revelation that their own interests will be further damaged by the Tea Party and the oligarchs. We could be in danger, in a world where "austerity" is being floated around, of moving to a pre-Union society, where all the benefits I described above wither away. 

So remember, Unions are not perfect, but the alternative will be a lot worse.

Thanks for reading.