| Kent Wong |
This was a paper presented by Kent Wong to an international conference hosted by Ton Duc Thang University in Ho Chi Ming City, Vietnam in April, 2022. Ton Duc Thang is the Trade Union University of Vietnam and is affiliated with the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor.
As the director of the UCLA Labor Center, I have taught labor studies, labor law and collective bargaining for many years. Collective bargaining is a cornerstone of U.S. labor relations, and yet it has been under attack in recent decades. This is harmful not only to U.S. unions and workers, but represents an increasing threat to U.S. democracy.
Collective Bargaining in the U.S.
For more than 50 years, unionization and collective bargaining have been in decline in the United States. The right to collective bargaining was won in the 1930’s, in the midst of the Great Depression and as a result of unprecedented organizing campaigns throughout the country including a General Strike in 1934. The 1930’s saw the birth of contemporary U.S. labor laws, and the establishment of collective bargaining as the foundation of U.S. labor relations.
Throughout In the 1950’s, fully one third of workers in the U.S. were members of unions and covered by collective bargaining agreements. This massive union expansion resulted in historic improvements in the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers. U.S. workers were able to improve job quality, raise wages to support their families, and the growing strength of unions resulted in significant government policy victories including social security, employer provided health care coverage, occupational safety and health standards, paid sick time, paid vacation time, and pensions.
However, in the 1970’s and 1980’s, the U.S. witnessed a decline in unionization that has continued to this day. The causes of union decline have included globalization, a dramatic change from a manufacturing economy to a service economy, and policies of deindustrialization that resulted in capital flight and plant shutdowns throughout the country. Union decline was also accelerated by anti-union corporate policies and their support of anti-union labor laws that undermined collective bargaining rights. Today, only 10% of U.S. workers are union members, and only 6% of private sector workers are in unions.
The decline in unionization and collective bargaining has led to stagnation and decline in the wages and working conditions for U.S. workers. Previously high wage union jobs have been replaced by low wage non-union jobs. The two largest corporations in the U.S., WalMart and Amazon, are both fiercely anti-union, and have invested millions of dollars to oppose their workers from forming and joining unions.
The decline in collective bargaining has also weakened worker political power. Government policies that were established decades ago to support workers have steadily been eroded. Also, weakened unions have also allowed corporations and the right-wing to exert greater political influence to support reactionary, anti-union politicians and laws.
The Attacks on Collective Bargaining and the Election of Donald Trump
In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote for President, and received almost three million more votes than Donald Trump. However, due to the undemocratic U.S. Electoral College system, Donald Trump was elected President instead.
Three critical states that had supported Barack Obama in 2012, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, flipped from Democrat to Republican in 2016. In each of these three states, Republican Governors and members of the State Legislatures had attacked collective bargaining rights and unions.
In Michigan, the state where the United Autoworkers of America was founded, the state legislature passed anti-union “Right to Work” laws in 2013, dramatically undermining worker rights. In Pennsylvania, conservative anti-union forces in the State Legislature have fought to restrict collective bargaining rights, especially for public sector workers. And in Wisconsin, fifty years of collective bargaining rights for public sector workers was eliminated by a right-wing governor in 2011.
The attack on unions in these three states had a direct impact on the 2016 election. Trump defeated Clinton in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by a margin of only 70,000 votes, which allowed him to prevail in the national electoral college vote and become president. In 2020, after unions intensified organizing in these same three states, all three flipped back to support the democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden.
Joe Biden’s presidential victory was commanding, both in the popular vote and in the electoral vote. In the midst of the pandemic, the 2020 presidential election was held and Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris were elected President and Vice President. Joseph Biden had previously served as Vice President under President Barack Obama, and Kamala Harris is the first woman and first person of color (both African American and Asian American) to hold the position of Vice President in U.S. history.
However, to this day, Donald Trump has promoted the “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was illegitimate and that he won the election. On January 6, 2020, Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to engage in an armed insurrection of the U.S. Capitol to overturn the election results. The Trump lead white supremacist and right-wing movement presents a major threat to U.S. democracy, and Republican leaders in Congress continue to spread lies and misinformation that Donald Trump won the 2020 election.
Growing Economic Inequality
During the past two years of the global pandemic, the contradictions and crisis of U.S. capitalism have been exposed. More than 900,000 people in the U.S. have died as a result of Covid-19. Former President Donald Trump lied to the American people and deliberately down-played the seriousness of Covid-19. He attacked public health leaders and safety guidelines, and refused to wear masks and abide by social distancing. Many Republican leaders continue to spread lives about Covid-19, and have contributed to the public health crisis and increased death toll.
Although the U.S. has the most expansive and expensive health care system in the world, millions of people do not have access to health care. Covid-19 has disproportionately claimed the lives of the poor, people of color, and immigrants. The wealthy have access to the best health care system in the world, while many workers and the poor are dying because they lack of health care access.
The U.S. is a deeply polarized country, both politically and economically. The U.S. stock market has been setting new records, and wealthy corporations and billionaires continue to make massive profits during the pandemic. Housing prices and home rental costs are rising steadily, which also contributes to economic inequality. The number of homeless people has also grown sharply as housing insecurity impacts more workers.
A Growing Workers Movement
The pandemic has also witnessed the rise of a new workers movement. Public opinion polls reflect that sentiment supporting unions is at a 50-year high in the U.S. More people realize that unions are necessary to improve the quality of life for workers.
There has been a new wave of strikes throughout the country, including in the manufacturing sector, and more workers have been engaged in union organizing campaigns in recent years than in recent decades. Amazon workers, Starbucks workers, Fast Food workers, and “Ride Share” workers have been engaged in organizing campaigns in work places and industries that have never before been unionized.
Pro-union sentiment has been especially high among young workers and workers of color, who have been leading many of these organizing campaigns. These campaigns bode well for the future of the labor movement, and also present opportunities to expand collective bargaining rights in the U.S.
The Importance of Collective Bargaining Education
As the Director of the UCLA Labor Center, I teach Labor Studies to our students at the university. Each year, we introduce collective bargaining education into the classroom, to provide our students with an appreciation of the role of unions, an understanding of the dynamics of collective bargaining, and the importance of a union contract in providing good wages, benefits, and working conditions, and a collective voice for workers.
One of the most popular learning activities within our curriculum is a collective bargaining simulation, where each student is assigned to participate on either a union or management bargaining team. The students are given informational hand-outs based on real collective bargaining case studies, and then engage in a mock collective bargaining session. They have the option of either signing a union contract, or engaging in a strike or lockout. Inevitably, most of the student bargaining sessions result in a signed union contract, although in a few instances there are strikes or lock-outs. This outcome mirrors what happens in the real world, where the vast majority of collective bargaining sessions result in a mutually agreeable settlement.
The UCLA Labor Center in recent years has established a Labor Studies Major, the first in the history of our university and the first within the nine campus University of California system. We are also in the process of establishing a Master’s Degree in Labor Studies.
The Labor Studies program provides a foundation for students to learn about unions, collective bargaining, labor history, labor law, and contemporary issues that impact workers and the work place. Our program also provides opportunities for students to engage in research on labor issues, and to take part in internship programs that directly place them with unions and worker organizations. Through these placements, students learn about the world of work first hand, and many find jobs and careers through developing their skills and relationships.
The UCLA Labor Center has also established innovative programs to conduct research on young workers, and to encourage young workers to learn about their rights on the job, and to form and join unions. Labor education plays an important role in preparing the workers of tomorrow to join the labor movement and advocate for the interests of the working class.
The UCLA Labor Center is committed to continue our partnership with Ton Duc Thang University. We applaud the efforts of Ton Duc Thang to promote worker rights and global labor solidarity, and we share our mutual commitment to advance peace and prosperity for workers in Vietnam, the United States, and throughout the world.
Voices for New Democracy 