Unions & Civic Engagement: How the Assault on Labor Endangers Civil Society Andy Stern Abstract: American trade unions are a crucial segment of civil society that enriches our democracy. Union members are stewards of the public good, empowering the individual through collective action and solidarity. While union density has declined, the U.S. labor movement remains a substantial polit- Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/daed/article-pdf/142/2/119/1830196/daed_a_00208.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 ical and economic force. But the relentless attacks by the political right and its corporate allies could lead to an erosion of civic engagement, further economic inequality, and a political imbalance of power that can undermine society. The extreme assault on unions waged by Republicans in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michi- gan, and at a national level must be countered by a revitalized labor movement and by those who under- stand that unions are positive civil actors who bring together individuals who alone have little power. Unions need both structural reform and greater boldness; there are moments in which direct action and dramatic militancy can bring about positive social change. The current assault on labor can be rebuffed, and unions can expand their role as stewards for the public good and as defenders of efforts by the 99 per- cent to reduce inequality and protect democracy. The school board members didn’t see it coming. The parents at the school’s town hall meeting seemed to accept that enough had been done about the safety of kids on and near school grounds. Time to move on. But then Lucia, an immigrant from Mexico with an eighth-grade education, took the floor. A janitor in a West Los Angeles of½ce building and the mother of two young sons, she soon captured the crowd with her outspoken complaints about why admin- istrators were not doing more to ensure a safe place for learning. ANDY STERN is a Senior Fellow Other parents admired Lucia, who not only had at Columbia University’s Rich- the courage to confront school of½cials, but also man Center for Business, Law, and had the ability to sum up parental concerns in a Public Policy. He was President of clear way that ultimately brought necessary and the Service Employees Interna- tional Union from 1996 to 2010. He overdue safety improvements to a school plagued is author of the book A Country that by gang violence. Works: Getting America Back on Track “I was a very timid person, honestly, a very timid (2006). person,” Lucia recalled of the period soon after she © 2013 by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences 119 How the had arrived in the United States in the unions and community groups to form Assault early 1990s. “If I had to speak in public, I the New York Civic Participation Project, on Labor Endangers would turn red and would not know what which seeks to galvanize workers around Civil Society to say.” Then she became involved with the jobs and civic issues in their neighbor- Justice for Janitors campaign of Service hoods, such as Queens, Bushwick, Wash- Employees International Union (seiu) ington Heights, and the South Bronx. In Local 1877 in Southern California.1 Miami, United for Dignity, an indepen- Over time, participation in the union dent nonpro½t started by 1199/seiu helped Lucia acquire the knowledge and United Healthcare Workers East, offers con½dence that later enabled her to speak leadership classes to low-wage immi- out at her sons’ school and in other public grant workers. And in Boston, worker seiu settings. “When we were trying to deal centers originally created by Local Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/daed/article-pdf/142/2/119/1830196/daed_a_00208.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 with overcrowding at the school, I brought 615 provide English-language training, a lot of people to the meetings–my sis- teach computer and leadership skills, and ters, the neighbors, other parents,” Lucia build ties to other community-based said. Applying the training she had organizations. Many unions engage in received in the union local, she used her similar efforts, both with immigrant new civic skills to rally collective action workers and the broader union member- that often got results. ship. The sociologist Veronica Terriquez has studied the seiu janitors’ local and American trade unions are a crucial examined levels of civic engagement segment of civil society that enriches our among union members, including Lucia, democracy. Unions often give a voice at with schoolchildren. “The ½ndings sug- work and in the community to those who gest that union members–indepen- individually lack power, particularly those dently and without prompting from the on the bottom rungs of our economy: union–draw upon their acquired skills immigrants, low-wage workers, people to effect change in their lives,” Terriquez of color, and other economically disad- writes. “People learn to run meetings, vantaged groups. communicate problems effectively, and Every day across our country, union use existing processes and protocols. workers like Lucia not only perform their This empowers people to help them- jobs and contribute to America’s eco- selves and their children.”2 nomic growth and prosperity. They also The study found that mobilizing union volunteer at homeless shelters, coach in protests and participating in union-led youth sports programs, teach Sunday campaigns helped the Latino immigrants School, walk long miles in fundraising transcend barriers, including limited events for breast cancer awareness, regis- English language skills and low formal ter others to vote, and so on. These union education levels. In essence, the janitors’ members are stewards of the public involvement with their union led to good. Their daily acts of citizenship, like greater civic engagement. those of many other Americans, often do During my time as president of seiu, I not come cloaked in the union label. saw ½rsthand many examples of worker While these acts flow from the innate empowerment through labor-initiated desire people have to build a better programs like those in Los Angeles that world, those among the millions of union helped Lucia. In New York City, for exam- families bene½t from both an organiza- ple, seiu Local 32bj joined with other tional framework and a philosophical 120 Dædalus, the Journal ofthe American Academy of Arts & Sciences core. Unions empower the individual, ing of society to counter the assault Andy Stern but they do so through collective action waged against them, most recently by and solidarity. Republican governors and legislators The janitors in Los Angeles fought hard in states such as Wisconsin, Ohio, and struggles with antiunion employers, but Michigan. workers stuck together and won decent Emboldened by gains in the 2010 elec- wages and bene½ts, as well as a voice at tions, conservative leaders in those states work.3 Their union-won economic gains and elsewhere pushed quickly to abolish enable them to buy the products and or severely restrict collective bargaining services made and provided by other by unions representing public employ- workers and to pay taxes to support needed ees, teachers, and others. The Republi- public services, such as schools, roads, Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/daed/article-pdf/142/2/119/1830196/daed_a_00208.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 cans hoped to weaken labor, but in fact clean water, ½re½ghting, and police sparked a resurgence of union and pro- forces. Much harder to quantify on a bal- gressive activism. Within months, the ance sheet are all those daily acts by backlash resulted in some gop legisla- unionists that contribute to the common tors being recalled and a successful state- good, whether they occur at school board wide vote in Ohio overturning the law meetings, church cafeterias, or environ- curbing union bargaining rights. mental cleanups in the neighborhood. The union mobilization in Ohio, Wis- Those are moments of civic good that consin, and Michigan underscores that help bond our society and make it better. trade unions are civic actors that engage Unions empower workers in a variety far beyond collective bargaining. By bring- of sectors that are increasingly marginal- ing together individuals who alone have ized by the problems of our current eco- little power, unions join workers into a nomic and political system: force that regularly contributes to positive • Labor, for example, speaks for manufac- outcomes in the workplace and broader turing workers who continue to lose arenas, including elections and legisla- jobs to technology and outsourcing of tion. work to other countries where labor is Much of the important social legisla- far cheaper. tion that has built a better society came about because of the strong political sup- • Labor gives a voice to teachers and port of labor. Unions backed civil rights school support workers, who are under legislation, Social Security, Medicare, harsh attack from many directions environmental laws, wage and hour laws, even as their unions push for greater the ban on child labor, and much more. resources for schools and improved In recent years, unions such as seiu have teacher performance. given strong support to the struggle for • Organized labor helps health care work- marriage equality and for lgbt rights. ers stand up against unwise changes in Labor’s collective bargaining gains over Medicare and Medicaid funding that many years have helped bring important will hurt the most vulnerable in our progress for all Americans. The bumper society, such as disabled individuals sticker “Unions–The Folks Who Brought who need home care assistance to live You The Weekend” highlights, for exam- decent lives. ple, labor’s role in achieving the forty-hour work week at a time when most Ameri- • Unions enable public workers who pro- cans were forced to work longer hours.