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THE STATE OF LABOR
More than a century ago, Labor Day was established to honor workers, Today the movement that led to the holiday faces a different world, with a different set of priorities.
Tomorrow is Labor Day, and many members of Atlanta Millwright Local 1263 will be working -- by choice.
Ironic, considering that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners - of which Local 1263 is a part - is credited with the idea for the holiday. McGuire wanted a visible celebration to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."
Another labor leader, Matthew Maguire, got the Central Labor Union to hold the first Labor Day celebration in New York City on Sept. 5, 1882. The idea caught on, and, in 1894, Congress passed an act to make the first Monday of September a national holiday for workers.
In the 21st century, many will enjoy picnics and last-of-summer recreation, but many others in retail, transportation and essential services will work.
"It doesn't make sense for us to all try to get together and picnic during our busiest time. It would be counterproductive," said Mike Hamilton, business manager of Atlanta Millwright Local 1263.
Members of Local 1263 maintain precision and heavy equipment for many companies. They've learned that plant managers prefer to have extensive machine work done over the holiday weekend, when employees aren't there, and they're willing to pay double for those hours.
"A willingness to work when needed keeps us in those plants the rest of the year," Hamilton said.
In an environment in which union membership has decreased to about 12 percent of working Americans, the manufacturing sector is declining and more jobs are being sent overseas, Hamilton said his union, like others, has shifted focus to membership-building efforts, political involvement and a win-win approach to collective bargaining.
"It used to be that if we weren't getting something from management, it was considered a loss. They won and we lost. Now we realize that if the boat's got a leak, we're all going to get wet," he said.
"We do collective bargaining and addressing political issues at the local level now, and we try to satisfy needs rather than be a cause of heartburn to our customers. At the same time, we're working on good training programs, better health plans and better pensions for our members. This is not my Dad's union. It's a lot more diverse and welcoming to all, and I hope it's going to stay strong."
'People fought and died'
With emphasis on Labor Day picnics and holiday sales, people often take the gains made possible by the labor movement for granted.
"It was the Teamsters who transformed the American trucking industry," said Eric Robertson, union representative of Teamsters Local 728. "We turned a truck driver's job from lower to middle class by raising the wage so that a driver could buy a house and send his kids to college. People fought and died for things like that."
Today, increasing the number of members and getting them involved in the political process are priorities for the Teamsters, which split with the AFL-CIO last year to help start the Change to Win labor federation.
"Growth is the most important issue for labor unions today," Robertson said. "We need to reclaim the market density we once had and lost over a long period. If you don't have members, you don't have support, and you've got nothing. We're looking outside the box to find ways to organize."
Besides freight companies and UPS drivers, Local 728's members include sanitation workers, exhibit and trade-show workers, and people who deliver movies to theaters. The numbers are starting to rise.
"Last year, union density planed out and quit shrinking," he said. "People have been shaken out of their complacency by economic pressures and are calling us for help in organizing."
While labor union growth has shifted from industry to service workers - such as government employees, airline pilots, teachers and musicians - and to a membership that reflects a diverse work force, the goals remain the same, he said.
"When you increase the density of union workers in any given industry, you lift up the working conditions of that whole sector," Robertson said. Securing pensions, health care benefits and more full-time rather than part-time jobs are major issues the Teamsters are addressing through collective bargaining and grass-roots political activism.
Getting political
"Labor today rests on a three-legged stool of politics, organization and collective bargaining. You have to be able to negotiate good contracts for your people, and that's harder in the recent anti-union political climate. The laws are structured toward companies, but our surveys and focus groups show that more people want to be organized," said Steve Lomax, president of the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1996, which has 14,000 members.
Like other unions, the UFCW has grown past its roots (grocery store workers) to include workers in poultry plants, on military bases, in health care facilities and in nursing homes. With membership strong, the union is beefing up its political arm.
"We're putting more emphasis on local politics," Lomax said. "We have two full-time staff assigned to political activities and educating our members about how issues affect their pocketbooks."
Members will run phone banks, stuff mailings, get out the vote, drive people to polls and volunteer for various candidates in the 2006 election, and the UFCW will work closely (through solidarity charters) with the AFL-CIO, even though the union is part of the CTW.
"A lot of CTW people are still affiliated with the AFL in Georgia, and the two are working together quite effectively. If we don't all work together in labor, we're going to hang separately," Lomax said.
He sees growing political clout as a means to addressing large issues like health care. "More and more companies are shifting the burden of health care costs to employees or not offering it at all. We need to fix the health care system; that's the major issue facing unions and all working people today," he said.
A push for resources
The 40,000 members of the Georgia Association of Educators feel just as strongly about standing up for children and public school educators.
"We have two government specialists on our staff, because we want to influence positive and proactive legislation," said Jeff Hubbard, GAE president. "We're fortunate to have friends of education on both sides of the aisle, and, after conducting interviews, we'll announce our endorsement list.
"On the federal level, we're working to get the No Child Left Behind Act funded properly at the state level. Our message is that if government is going to make the rules and regulations, then it needs to give us the tools and resources."
Issues at the state level include addressing the teacher shortage by making sure that wages and benefits are sufficiently high to attract the best educators to Georgia and that all schools are safe, high-quality environments.
Hubbard sees the GAE's role as part labor union, part professional organization and part human/civil rights organization, with a mission to advocate, support and protect its members.
Training role
Providing professional education and career development training is the role of many unions today.
In a state where contractors don't have to use union labor, Mike Braden, president of Local 613 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, believes that his union's comprehensive five-year apprenticeship program sets his 3,200 workers apart.
"We have gained 800 to 900 new members since 1996 and have about 110 contractors who choose to work with us," he said. "They know if they call us that they are going to get a highly skilled and trained wireman."
Braden is seeing more women, people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and more people with college degrees come through the door. "They're attracted by the salary base, the benefits and the future retirement. A lot of pensions are going away in business, but we're proud to have been able to protect ours," he said.
One change Braden sees is better communication between contractors and electrical workers, with both sides recognizing the stresses of the other and what it takes to do business.
"We have a no-strike clause, so we keep working and negotiating, and that's productive. We can work together instead of being so adversarial," Braden said.
"The main issues for labor have always been economic and social: People fought for kids who were forced to work, for workers who didn't have any kind of life - and the labor movement made a real difference."
He sees a great opportunity for labor unions to grow and make a difference in the issues of globalization, health care costs, illegal immigration, the high school dropout rate and a widening gap between the poor and the rich.
"Young people today are facing a very different world, and organization could give them a bargaining voice," he said.
