Divided We Fall

Editors Note: The following is an op-ed submitted to The Denver Post before the AFL-CIO convention, and as the Journal was going to press.

We are a country founded by trailblazers. We celebrate our pioneer heritage from the shores of Virginia to the Pacific Coast, but we too often forget that those rugged individualists paved the way for the founding of communities.

And communities are places where people are tied together by bonds of faith, family or any number of common interests.

The idea of people joining together for their mutual protection or advancement is as old as the founding of the first colony. If the pioneer spirit continues to inspire, the community spirit is the glue that holds our nation together, whether it be a local church, the chamber of commerce, or—in the case of working people—a labor union.

We have all reaped the benefits of what the labor movement has worked hard to achieve. The eight-hour day, occupational health and safety, health care benefits, minimum wage protection and, yes, Social Security. Would any of this have come about if working people—neighbors and co-workers—had not stood together? Not likely.

These days, however, the labor movement is in danger of forgetting its foremost principle, one that groups on all sides of the political and social divide understand—standing together for mutual benefit, in a word, solidarity.

The AFL-CIO holds its convention in Chicago in late July. At issue is the very existence of a united labor movement. For nearly a year, the labor movement has engaged in a vigorous internal debate on how best to address the many problems that American workers confront in the 21st century. Unfortunately, some unions think that they and only they deserve the mantle of reform, and if their agenda is not passed, they will leave the federation.

A united labor movement has confronted many challenges on behalf of working families. But we still have work to do.

The unions of the AFL-CIO have been united on their attempts to stop the erosion of pension benefits that have taken place at United Airlines and other carriers and in companies in almost every sector of the economy. We have been in the forefront of questioning electricity deregulation and protecting the rights of consumers in the debate over our nation’s energy future. We were the first to ask President Bush the basic question of how carving billions of dollars out of Social Security to create private accounts would save the system in the long run, a question that a vast majority of Americans have decided was worth asking. We have long confronted the "free trade" myth, fighting hard to create new markets for American products while leveling the playing field on labor and environmental standards. We have posed the question of how we deal with the growing economic strength of China and its impact on American living standards. The health care benefits negotiated by unions spread to virtually all sectors of the economy until the fearsome cost pressures of the past decade left many blue and white collar workers and their families uninsured or underinsured.

If the labor movement splits apart, who will be the voice for workers on these and many other vital questions? Who will provide the platform, built on the linked arms of working men and women, from which we can demand fairness for those whose labor keeps the world’s largest economy moving? The sad fact is that a fragmented labor movement will weaken the voice of workers of every occupation.

The issues are a lot bigger than our own internal politics. We can argue the issues with passion and vigor, but we must emerge united, because our solidarity is a vital component of the glue that binds the American community.

Edwin D. Hill

International President

  President’s Message

July/August 2005 IBEW Journal