Unions: Forces for good or political lackeys?
For the very first time since the Landrum-Griffin labor reform act was passed in 1959, the United States Department of Labor is demanding detailed financial disclosures from America's labor unions. The upcoming reports, as Shakespeare penned in the Merry Wives of Windsor, may have the foul stench of soiled laundry...
In a piece written for Townhall.com, Robert Novak disclosed that Big Labor may be subjected to a great deal of embarrassment when the information is made public this March.
Dues for political payoffs
For example, an early report shows the AFL-CIO spent $49 million (27 percent of its total annual budget) on political and lobbying activities but only $30 million (or 16.5 percent) to represent its members. Novak reported that this shameful gap contributed to the breakaway from the AFL-CIO of the Teamsters, the Service Employees, and other unions.
In another document it is revealed that the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers spent $791 million, constituting 85 percent of its 2005 budget, to purchase fixed assets and investments. So much for the welfare of Joe Lunchbox.
Although the numbers are surprising, they should not shock anyone who has paid attention to the serious decline in the membership and power of Big Labor since the demise of James Hoffa. And let's face reality: Today's labor conditions are very different from the days when John L. Lewis was president of the United Mine Workers of America.
A grandfather of yours truly was a coal miner when unions were truly needed; that was when mining was exponentially more dangerous than it is today, jobs were scarce, and miners worked or starved. And at one time or another I myself was a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and United Steelworkers of America.
But that was then, this is now, and today's workforce faces far different challenges.
Declining membership, receding trust
According to Labor Department statistics, union membership has decreased dramatically over the last three decades. In 1975, 28.9 percent of the nation's workers were union members. This proportion dropped to 21.9 percent in 1982, 15.8 percent in 1992, and just 13.9 percent in 1998 and 1999. A total of 13.5 percent of the workforce was represented by unions in 2000. Corporate mismanagement, the threat of job loss, and unimaginative union leadership all contributed to the decline in union membership.
But it may be argued that by far, the most damaging aspect of modern unions has been their shameless political prostitution. Even though a substantial percentage of union members are Republicans or conservative Democrats and oppose socialism, their First Amendment rights are violated and their hard-earned money is taken by force to support opposite views and political agendas. One of the most damaging large-scale frauds in the United States is the misuse of union endorsements and mandatory union membership dues to fund the political campaigns of socialist political candidates without the permission of the union members.
And this is what the Labor Department's required disclosures will document. Big Labor and the Democratic Party do not want this made public, and they will strong-arm their Antique Media allies to ensure the reports get minimal coverage.
But now you know what to look for this March.