WEBVTT - How Labor Unions Work 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.960 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:07.400 It's ready. Are you welcome to you stuff you should 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:16.840 know from House Stuff Works dot Com. Hey, and welcome 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:20.040 to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark with me as always 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:24.759 is Charles W. Chuck Bryant, which makes this stuff you 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:30.280 should know. Heck no, we won't go. Heck no, we 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:34.320 won't record. That's more along the lines of what we're 0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:39.240 talking about better paper podcasters. Yeah, as a matter of fact, 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:42.040 we could get together with like Adam Curry and um 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:47.479 Joe Rogan and maybe even Ira and form like some 0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:50.840 sort of local He would be our Jimmy Hoffa. Ira 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:55.400 would be Is it a threat? No? Are you threatening? 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:57.640 I glad I know he would be our Jimmy. He 0:00:57.640 --> 0:01:01.279 would make things happen. James P. Hoff Uh, the one 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:03.920 that the current team's church president. Either one I'm not 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:06.600 saying get rid of him burying a giant stadium from saying, 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:10.120 IRA would make it happen. He would break legs. It 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:17.800 need be. There's a leg breaking goon. Um. So for 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:19.640 those of you who have already seen the title of 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:23.160 this you are you are you understand the banter? I 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:25.720 guess if you have no idea what we're talking about, 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:28.280 I'll bet you guessed by now that we're talking about 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:31.960 labor unions. It's a good one man, that we had 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:36.440 this request a lot last year from when the whole 0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:39.200 Wisconsin Scott Walker things, I know, and we're just now 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:41.440 getting to it because the Scott Walker thing is like 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:44.920 my intro. Well, let's hear it. So do you remember 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:49.840 last year in Wisconsin. Yes, there was this big hubbub 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:53.080 that was going on. A lot of people were wondering 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:55.160 if this is going to be like the beginning of 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:58.360 the Arab Spring in the United States. This is going 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:02.120 to be the flash point for it because Governor Scott 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:06.640 Walker was accused of trying to deunionize the public sector 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:12.600 employees State Employees UM through a little bit of legislation 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:15.480 that he was trying to introduce. That is very true, 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:19.239 and it caused quite a stir like thousands of protesters. Yeah, 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:21.920 there was some serious protests going on UM and at 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:24.040 the heart of this whole thing was some legislation where 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:28.720 he was trying to get the public sector employees unions 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:33.760 UM to get their union members e g. The public 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:37.840 or i e. The public sector employees I E means 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:40.639 that is e g is for example. But I realized 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:44.959 that uh, to basically pay in half of their pensions, UM, 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:49.400 to give up some other concessions like um, if they 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:51.040 were going to get a raise, it had to be 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:56.079 through public referendum. Yeah, anything over the rate of inflation, 0:02:56.120 --> 0:03:00.320 I think yeah, UM. But probably the biggest one was 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:06.000 that they were stripped of their ability to collectively bargain. 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:08.760 And it worked, it got pushed through, and now if 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:13.320 you are a state employee union member in Wisconsin, you 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:18.480 can't collectively bargain anymore, which means you are effectively neutered 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:21.400 as a union member. In a lot of ways. That 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:25.840 is one of the hallmarks of the unions. And depending 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:29.560 on where you come from, what you believe who raised you, 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:33.520 whether or not your grandpa was still alive when you 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:36.000 were old enough to understand what he was talking about, 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:39.840 UM that. I think that largely depends on how you 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:41.920 feel about unions. A lot of people think they're a 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:44.640 good thing. A lot of people think they're bad. A 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:47.000 lot of people think they're necessary, A lot of people 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:49.880 think they're evil. A lot of people think they're necessary evil, 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:54.480 and in fact they're kind of America as it stands 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:57.560 as kind of split down the middle these days. A 0:03:57.720 --> 0:04:01.360 pew pole that was taken during this whole bub in Wisconsin, 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:07.080 UM showed that of Americans had a positive view of 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:12.040 organized labor, which I found surprising. You thought that was high, Yeah, 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:15.360 I was. I was surprised because the the decline of 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:19.760 union has also been attended by a change in perception 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:22.320 towards them, you know, like they're kind of bad, or 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:25.960 that they hamstring business is another big one. UM. But 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:29.919 they also found that still believe unions are needed to 0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:34.920 improve working people's lives so necessary. Evil. I nailed it, 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:39.080 you did, And unsurprisingly, a lot of times your feelings 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:42.839 on unions are drawn along political lines these days. They're 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:48.080 often expecially of being like the an organizing backbone for 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:51.320 the Democratic Party. Sure, but that's not always true, Like 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:56.000 very frequently unions throw their waiting their support behind Republicans 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:59.560 as well. At any rate, let's get to the bottom 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:03.320 of what all this is. Are our unions good? We're 0:05:03.320 --> 0:05:07.760 probably going to avoid this kind of qualitative descriptor and 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:11.120 instead just kind of stick to the facts and let 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:15.799 the people decide. Power to the people to decide whether 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:20.240 unions are good or not. I think that's a good move. Josh. Uh, 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:25.680 So we got stats. We'll get to those later unions josh. Uh. 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:30.039 Industrial revolution is kind of where actually we go back further, 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:34.120 which we will with what medieval times. Yeah, the the 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:39.200 trade guilds. Trade guilds sort of where the beginnings seeds 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:42.600 of unions and uh. They originally sort of came about 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:48.640 though just too uh swap techniques and recipes and uh. 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:51.800 Then that sort of evolved a bit into hey, why 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:55.839 don't we get together and also share aside from our knowledge, 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:59.919 get together and maybe share expertise on how to how 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:04.080 to do things better and get better wages maybe or 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:07.560 fixed prices. That's one before they figured out that that 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:12.279 was um, immoral. This is medieval Europe a long time ago. Yeah. Uh. 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:16.080 And the trade guilds, um, we're definitely the origin of unions. 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:20.600 It's just a bunch of workers getting together and figuring 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:23.640 out because it is essentially what a union is that 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:28.480 they have um more strength than numbers, um. And it's 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:32.680 also an indication of workers understanding their value in the 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:36.640 production process that what they're essentially doing in return for 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:42.640 their salary was producing a profit. For business. Do you 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:46.400 have labor in business? Right? And UM, that gives them 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:49.040 a certain sense of value, whereas UH, and a lot 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:53.440 of situations, workers feel like, you know, they're very grateful 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:55.159 for their job and they don't want to make any 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:58.880 waves or anything like that, and they're not fully aware 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:02.479 of their value UM and unions. One of the roles 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:05.839 that unions plays to point out to a worker, Hey, 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:08.240 you're doing something in return. This isn't some sort of 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:12.120 welfare situation that you're involved in. You're producing labor and 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:15.920 that has value and certain rights as well. Exactly. All right, 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:21.040 So flash forward a bit to the Industrial Revolution nineteenth century. Uh, 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:24.840 things moved away a little bit from agriculture. UH, and 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.640 agricultural jobs moved into the factories, as we all know, 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:31.800 and kind of right off the bat, factories weren't a 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:37.880 good scene for fair wages and safe conditions and kids 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:41.239 working in factories and women and children not being paid 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:46.680 as much as men. Um. Triangle shirtwaist fire. That was 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:50.400 a big turning point. What was the triangle shirtwaist company 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:54.240 fire where the working conditions were really really dangerous? That 0:07:54.360 --> 0:07:57.200 it was a clothing company, clothing manufacturer, I think in 0:07:57.400 --> 0:08:00.400 Chicago or New York, I can't remember. Um, and it 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:04.280 caught fire, the factory did because there was all this 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:07.400 fabric in the air and it just ignited in the 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:09.360 whole place went up and all of these women had 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:12.880 to jump to their deaths. And UM, that kind of 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:18.600 brought in, brought working conditions into a limelight and help 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:22.400 the union. Um sentiment. I guess a flash point if 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:28.080 you will, exactly from your favorite Mr Cladwell the heath 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:35.079 flash point, tipping point, tipping point, good lord, get it together, Chuck, okay, 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:38.440 I've got it together now, tipping point. I had to 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:42.959 take a little break. Uh. In the nineteenth century, they 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:46.880 would do things called striking. Yeah, they still do today, 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:50.960 but back then it was a more uh contentious and 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:56.240 violent affair than it is today. Like people died, bombs 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:59.520 went off, guns were shot. There was and it was 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:02.760 on both sides too, I mean, like the workers were striking. 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:06.920 The point was the whole was the same, where we're 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:09.520 not working anymore and you're not going to make any 0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:12.400 money because we're not producing the product that you need 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:16.600 to go sell. Right. Um. But during these times, like 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:19.760 the National Guard would show up, or um, the cops 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:23.280 would show up, or maybe the Pinkerton Detective Agency would 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:26.200 show up and just start beating the tar out of 0:09:26.240 --> 0:09:30.480 the striking workers in order to scare them back into working. Uh. 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:35.560 Workers also would um defend themselves. Uh. There was this one. 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:37.680 I can't remember what strik it was. I just read 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:40.200 about it, where like the workers managed to like chase 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:44.000 the cops off because they were they were shooting two 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:47.800 pound hinges in these oversized sling shots like at the cops. 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:50.640 And I can imagine getting hit by a two pound hinge. 0:09:50.840 --> 0:09:54.440 Was a hinge factory, I had to have them. But yeah, 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:57.160 so the strikes were very violent. People like you said, 0:09:57.160 --> 0:09:59.680 would die and the cops like why couldn't the cotton 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:05.240 ball factory had been Uh but not funny though, because 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:07.720 people did die. Uh, not making light of it. Like 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:10.640 at the Haymarket riot for incidents for incidents, that was 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:12.800 a big one for instance. That was a turning point, 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:17.200 a flash point, if you will. It was early May, um, 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:19.960 there was a nationwide strike saying we only want to 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:23.559 work eight hours a day. Um, And in Chicago's Haymarket 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:27.480 there was a violent protest. UM. Not a lot of 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:30.280 people were there because the weather, thank goodness, because someone 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:33.640 threw a bomb into the crowd. Yeah, went off, and 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:36.800 shots were fired by the cops, maybe by the protesters. 0:10:37.440 --> 0:10:41.040 Probably they were not just striking labors, but they were 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:48.280 anarchists there, and uh, you know this anarchist their trouble. Well, Um, 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:51.079 this is one of the places where in the public 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:55.480 imagination at least that anarchists and socialists became married to 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:59.920 labor like pro labor. Um, and it's always kind of 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:04.760 haunted labor unions. Is that idea? But it was born 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:08.760 out of this era, if not this riot, I'm sure. Uh. 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:12.200 In the end, eight people were charged and convicted. Um. 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:16.720 The labor leaders tried to get them out, saying this 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:19.400 is not fair. One of the people committed suicide by 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:21.960 placing a stick of dynamite in his mouth in prison, 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:27.240 and uh. In the end, in a few years later, 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:30.640 the governor of Illinois granted a full pardon to the 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:34.520 remaining three convicted, and that ended up leading to an 0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:38.960 observance of May Day or Labor Day in other countries. Right, 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:41.360 May first, it is supposed to be labor Day. Um. 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:44.040 This whole affair, though, you left out that four of 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:47.480 the guys who were convicted were hanged, and then one 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:51.240 guy committed suicide, and then three were but they were 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:56.800 charged with like basically agitating violence. Um. This was back 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:59.520 when free speech wasn't protected quite as much as it 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.600 is out right. Um. But the they and they were 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:06.240 pardoned and as a result, this whole Mayday thing, this 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:08.480 Labor Day thing, came up about in May one. But 0:12:08.520 --> 0:12:11.680 then within like five years Grover Cleveland was like, well, 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:15.720 this is kind of a sordid, like scary association with labor. 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:18.000 Let's just celebrate labor and I'm going to move it to. 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:22.319 Um the first Saturday, now, the first Monday, Monday in September, 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:27.480 it was Saturday, be no good, wouldn't get off work? Exactly? Uh? 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:32.319 Did he move it to to disassociate from that? Interesting specifically, 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:37.400 So that's why you can't wear white after September September exactly. 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:43.640 That's exactly the origin of that. All right, So maybe 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:48.280 let's talk about some of the basics of a labor union, josh. Um. 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:50.560 There's many different kinds, and like you said, it's all 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:53.480 about strength and numbers to get together to form what's 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:57.200 called a bargaining unit um with an elected leader to 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:01.080 deal with the employer right, because I mean, think about it. 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:04.520 If you are, if you have somebody who's advocating for 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:09.760 your success, for your rights, higher wages, better conditions, whatever 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:14.559 it might be. Um, you are removing yourself to a 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:18.559 certain extent from that negotiation. So it's a little less 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:21.600 sticky for you because you're not talking to your employer. 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:24.760 You're not saying, I really want some more money. Somebody 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:27.520 else is going These guys are making a bunch of 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:29.040 money for you, and you need to share it a 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:34.080 little better like an agent exactly right in a way. 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:37.319 And at the same time, you also have that element 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:41.720 of that bargaining unit being a collective bargaining unit, meaning 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:45.400 there's that strengthen numbers, so it's a bunch of people 0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:50.480 becoming satisfied at the same time. And implied in there 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:52.520 is if you don't do this, then you're gonna lose 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:54.160 a bunch of people all at once and you're gonna 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:57.439 have some trouble. Right And Uh, they do this uh 0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:00.440 agreement in the form of the c b A collective 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:05.000 bardying Agreement, and any fan of any professional sports will 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:08.600 understand what a c b A is and how tinuous 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:12.480 they can be. Uh. Once you have negotiated this agreement, 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:15.400 and everyone on the employer sizes, you know, we can 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:18.360 live with these terms. And everyone on the employee side said, yeah, 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:20.080 we can live with this. We both give a little bit. 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:23.600 They sign it, and uh, it is set for a 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:26.920 certain period of time and you cannot break the c 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:31.400 BA on either side without there being legal action or 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:34.720 grievance is filed, which usually means an arbitrator will come 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:38.000 in and say, you know, let me get involved. UM. 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:40.600 You I feel like just hit the nail on the head. Though, 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:45.440 for an ideal union presence in business, everyone give a 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:49.520 little you know, you can't have UM too much for 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:51.480 on one side or the other. But I think that 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:55.520 that's kind of the history of UM. The presence of 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:59.400 unions in business in America, it's been If you look 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:02.800 over time, it's maybe even down, but if you look 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:06.760 at in any specific decade, it's more on one side 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:09.800 than the other as far as who's in the beneficial 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:13.920 position or who's asking more, who's extracting more? Like UM. 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:19.000 Samuel Gompers, who who got together the American Federation of Labor, 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:21.760 I think when he was asked what the a f 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:26.920 L wanted, his answer was more. Yeah. Yeah, but at 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:29.440 the same time you have to say, well, business isn't 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:34.480 gonna just say just give it away. Very rarely do they. Um. 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:38.680 The whole presence of unions is to extract that. At 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:43.760 least that was the original idea of them. Yeah, you know. Uh, unions, 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:47.160 like any organization, costs a little money to run. Um, 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:50.160 so you have to pay dues. It's a membership thing. Um. 0:15:50.240 --> 0:15:53.520 If I was in the Screen Actors Guilled, which I'm not, 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:57.000 I would pay dues to the Screen Actors Guilled every 0:15:57.040 --> 0:16:00.480 year to keep my membership current and then they would 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:02.280 go fight for me and they would have a staff 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:05.440 that gets paid out of that money. Um. I love 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:08.160 in here that this is dues vary, but many are 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:10.920 around fifty dollars a month. What a deal? Yeah, I 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:14.640 think it's it's completely varies depending on what union you're in. 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:17.000 I don't know that you can put an average number, 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:19.080 or maybe you can if you average it, well, if 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:21.520 you counted them all up. And I don't think that's 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:25.560 what they did here. Um, it was fifty dollars a month. Um. 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:29.560 Act Now. Uh. They're also supposed to be democracies with 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:35.280 elected officials, elected leaders who UM take action based on 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:40.000 referendums and votes and basically just using UM voting to 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:43.840 take the pulse of the union members to see what 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:46.320 they want to do. Ideally, that's how it works. Yeah, 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:48.160 I get the feeling that doesn't always work that way 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:52.840 throughout history. Yeah, especially once the mob got involved, which 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:55.840 we'll get to UM a lot of times. You can 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:59.600 be uh local union member, which is sort of like 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:05.720 being a fraternity member of a larger national charter. Uh. 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:08.280 And if you're a local union, that means that you 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:12.560 maybe work in that same business sector, but you're employed 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:15.479 by a different company. But it's like, hey, I'm in 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:17.560 the and I keep going back to film business stuff 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:21.280 because they were lousy with unions still are like hey, 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:22.960 I'm I work in the art department. I'm a prop 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:25.640 sky so I'm a member of the local I can't 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:28.800 remember the number union here in Atlanta, but it's a 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:32.080 national charter probably pushed out of l A, not mistaken. 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:38.000 It's like UM, a chapter of a fraternity or a sorority. Yeah, 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:42.120 which is what I said. Yeah, did you say fraternity 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:46.600 a sorority? No, you didn't, that's a fraternity. You didn't. 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:52.240 You didn't add sorority. No, no, good point authorities as well, chuck, Um, 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:54.720 what's the point of all this? I think we've kind 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:56.639 of touched on a little bit of it, like and 0:17:57.240 --> 0:17:59.600 especially in the strength and numbers thing. But there's other 0:17:59.640 --> 0:18:04.920 benefit it's too being in a union. Correct. Yeah. Um, 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:06.760 should we throw out some stats here? I think this 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:09.760 is high time for stats. Your wages, For one, your 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:13.840 median weekly income, it's gonna be as a union member, 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:17.679 about nine hundred and forty dollars. Uh, it's gonna be 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:21.840 about seven hundred and thirty dollars if you're non union. UM, 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:27.440 let me see her. You've got some about healthcare? Correct? Oh? Yeah, 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:29.960 So eight eight percent of union workers and this is 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:32.119 from the Department of Labor. This isn't like from the 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:35.919 A F L C, I O or anything. UM percent 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:42.000 of UM union workers have health coverage. Of non union 0:18:42.040 --> 0:18:46.920 workers don't do. UM. It's the same with dental plans 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:50.119 and the disparities even more pent of non union workers 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:54.080 have dental plans, where something like sixty six percent have 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:57.920 a dental plan. If you're a member of a union, UM, 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:03.120 half of union jobs have vision yeah coverage, and only 0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:06.879 about a quarter of non union jobs, UH have it, 0:19:07.160 --> 0:19:09.720 which in reading this also I was kind of like, man, 0:19:09.760 --> 0:19:12.879 we have pretty good benefits here Discovery. Yeah, we do. 0:19:12.920 --> 0:19:15.720 You know, Uh, if you're a minority, if you're a woman, 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:19.480 African American or Latino, you're gonna make more money. Women 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:21.480 earn about nine thousand more a year if you're in 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:25.719 a union, African Americans eight thousand more year, and Latinos 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:29.200 close to twelve thousand more year if you're a union member. 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:36.320 So aside from uh, safe working conditions and health insurance 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:40.159 and things like that, which are great, wages are really 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:44.280 the big deal, right Wages benefits UM pensions are another 0:19:44.400 --> 0:19:49.600 huge um and they're also there to um protect workers 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:55.000 from being unjustly fired. So like we're non union and 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:58.479 we could if somebody could come in here and say, 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:02.119 you know what, I didn't the way that you looked 0:20:02.160 --> 0:20:06.200 at your boss. I saw you scowling. You're fired. You're fired, 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:09.000 you're fired, you're fired. And we'd be like, you can't 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:10.880 do that, and they'd be like, oh, yes we can, 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:14.000 and that would be that right. Um. There was like 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:18.399 a big hubbub in Florida about some uh some workers 0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:22.200 that all wore orange either depending on who you ask 0:20:22.640 --> 0:20:25.080 because they were all going happy already together that night, 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:29.359 or because they were um simulating a prisoner garb to 0:20:29.880 --> 0:20:33.000 um protest the working conditions at this law firm, which 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:36.320 is really what they were doing, and like twelve of 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:38.320 them were fired. They were just taking into a conference 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:40.520 room and the guy was like, you're all fired and 0:20:40.560 --> 0:20:42.919 that's that. And they're like, you can't fire us for 0:20:43.000 --> 0:20:45.760 wearing an orange shirt, and actually, yes, very much so. 0:20:45.880 --> 0:20:50.240 The since it's a work right to work state or 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:53.359 an at will work state right to work um, the 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:56.520 the the the employer very much can fire you for 0:20:56.600 --> 0:21:00.280 wearing something that's seemingly arbitrary, is wearing orange. If you're 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:04.119 a union member, that is not the case. The union 0:21:04.200 --> 0:21:09.320 protects you from unjust dismissal and basically you if you 0:21:09.400 --> 0:21:12.320 feel like you've been fired for wearing orange, you can 0:21:12.359 --> 0:21:15.000 go to your union rep and a big stink comes about. 0:21:15.600 --> 0:21:18.480 That's another big one is protecting them. But I also 0:21:18.560 --> 0:21:22.119 feel like here is a good point to mention a 0:21:22.160 --> 0:21:26.359 lot of the criticisms of unions because that same protection 0:21:26.800 --> 0:21:31.840 from unjust dismissal um Unions are frequently criticized for that 0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:36.600 extending to workers who perform poorly, if like, it's part 0:21:36.640 --> 0:21:42.720 of that give I think with unions among labor to say, okay, 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:46.240 yes we're gonna protect you, but you have to be productive, 0:21:46.320 --> 0:21:48.640 or you have to be good at your job or whatever. Right, 0:21:48.720 --> 0:21:53.080 don't hide under the shield of the union just to 0:21:53.160 --> 0:21:56.760 go phone in your your job every day and collect 0:21:56.760 --> 0:22:00.280 your paycheck exactly and you know, flaunt that protect action. 0:22:00.440 --> 0:22:03.719 That's not what it's there for. UM. Another big criticism 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:07.000 is that union, just the presence of unions in any 0:22:07.080 --> 0:22:11.720 country harms economic progress on the whole by hamstringing business 0:22:11.760 --> 0:22:18.200 and making it less competitive among countries that don't have unions. UM. 0:22:18.280 --> 0:22:22.879 And so for states that have state employee unions, a 0:22:22.920 --> 0:22:26.679 big one is that UM, state employee pensions can be 0:22:26.720 --> 0:22:31.720 a drain on UM tight state economies. Uh. That's another 0:22:31.760 --> 0:22:34.120 big one too. So there's criticisms of unions that are 0:22:34.240 --> 0:22:37.879 very legitimate true, But again I think it comes down to, 0:22:37.960 --> 0:22:41.480 like where your political affiliation is. Well, yeah, I mean 0:22:42.000 --> 0:22:46.520 these days, UH, Republicans are more likely to not be 0:22:46.560 --> 0:22:49.720 in favor of unions, and they have consistently been called 0:22:49.720 --> 0:22:53.359 the backbone of the Democratic Party. That wasn't always the case, though, 0:22:53.600 --> 0:22:59.200 UM in nineteen fifties, h Republican President Dwight Eisenhower UM 0:22:59.400 --> 0:23:01.040 said that you and to have a secure place in 0:23:01.080 --> 0:23:04.199 our industrial life. Only a handful of reactionaries harbor the 0:23:04.240 --> 0:23:07.760 ugly thought of breaking unions and depriving working men and 0:23:07.800 --> 0:23:10.760 women of the right to join the union of their choice. 0:23:11.480 --> 0:23:16.679 And also throughout history, unions have kind of dabbled outside 0:23:16.720 --> 0:23:22.679 their own labor negotiations and protection to fight for things 0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:27.919 like UH medicare, social security, civil rights. Civil rights is 0:23:27.920 --> 0:23:32.240 a big one. UM. I think Missouri Congressman Richard Boeling 0:23:32.320 --> 0:23:35.240 said quote, we would have never passed the Civil Rights 0:23:35.320 --> 0:23:38.440 Act without labor. They had the muscle. The other civil 0:23:38.520 --> 0:23:43.200 rights groups did not. So there, you know, you don't 0:23:43.240 --> 0:23:45.920 want to see anyone's strong arm, but there is certainly 0:23:45.960 --> 0:23:49.200 something to be said for strength and numbers, especially when 0:23:49.200 --> 0:23:53.600 it comes to something like the Civil Rights Act. UM. 0:23:53.800 --> 0:24:00.200 The who was Eisenhower who had that quote about union rights. UM. 0:24:00.320 --> 0:24:03.280 Eisenhower's speaking at a time that was just after the 0:24:03.320 --> 0:24:10.119 peak of union membership. In ve UM, thirty five of 0:24:10.119 --> 0:24:13.880 all non agricultural workers, which is like everybody but farmers, 0:24:14.880 --> 0:24:19.000 UM belonged to unions. Now it's down to eleven point 0:24:19.080 --> 0:24:24.879 eight percent. Yeah, and UM the public sector thirty seven percent. 0:24:24.960 --> 0:24:27.360 But where they're really getting hurt is the private sector. 0:24:27.920 --> 0:24:30.320 Less than seven percent of the private sector is unionized 0:24:30.320 --> 0:24:34.760 these days. And there's a lot of people that, UH say, 0:24:34.760 --> 0:24:36.640 a lot of the problems that we have in Washington 0:24:36.720 --> 0:24:39.359 and a lot of the financial troubles we've had in 0:24:39.400 --> 0:24:46.119 this country have been to a certain degree, UM because 0:24:46.160 --> 0:24:50.200 of the non unionizing of like the rust belt in 0:24:50.240 --> 0:24:54.320 the private sector. So UM to sociologist Bruce Western and 0:24:54.400 --> 0:24:58.720 Jake Rosenfeld actually wrote a paper that said that, UM, 0:24:58.800 --> 0:25:03.320 the decline of organized labor unions UM from the nineteen 0:25:03.320 --> 0:25:06.880 seventies on can account for as much as a third 0:25:07.080 --> 0:25:11.919 of them increase in UH income inequality in the US, 0:25:12.280 --> 0:25:15.359 which has been significant, And they can attribute a third 0:25:15.359 --> 0:25:18.720 of that increase just to the decline of labor. Well, 0:25:18.760 --> 0:25:21.800