B   M   W   E
JOURNAL
 
ONLINE VERSION VOLUME 106 - NUMBER 9 - OCTOBER 1997
 
A New Labor Movement For A New Century
 
By UAW President Stephen P. Yokich

Labor Day 1997. The story is this: All over America, workers and unions are reinventing the labor movement.

America's working men and women are serving notice. We are not going to stand on the sidelines and watch while multinational corporations and Wall Street dictate all the rules. And more and more workers are again realizing that unions still offer the best way for us to win a seat at the decision-making table.

Now, I realize that's just the opposite of what many self-styled experts are saying about the future of unions.

Some argue that unions can't do anything for workers because in the New Economy corporations are just too powerful. But, then, that's what they said about General Motors back in 1937, too.

Others admit that unions have helped in the past. But they argue that workers don't need unions today, because unions like the UAW have accomplished what they set out to do in the 1930s and 1940s. In other words, there are not more battles to be won.

The fact is, as we head for the 21st century, unions have more to do than ever.

Yes, by many measures the U.S. economy is booming. Corporate profits, CEO pay, and the stock markets are setting records. Inflation and unemployment are the lowest they've been in years.

Yet many Americans have every reason to say--please don't give me any more "good" news. Sure, more Americans are working. But more and more are stuck in part-time or temporary jobs. You've heard the joke, yeah there are millions of jobs out there--I know one guy alone who's got four of them.

And then there's the question of pay. Last year, the average compensation of CEOs shot up 54 percent to $5,781,300. But the average worker got a 3% raise.

At the workplace itself, in the name of "competitiveness," employers are trying to turn back the clock to near sweatshop conditions. Excessive overtime, 12-hour shifts, line speed-ups, no relief, vacations postponed are more and more common.

The "profits-are-everything" mentality is taking a serious toll on family life. Anti-union types like to talk about "family values." But when it comes to protecting the rights of working parents to have the time to help their kids with homework or go to their Little League games, they are working night and day to weaken both unions and the laws that prevent employers from working children and adults harder than ever.

Put it all together and it's no surprise that unions and working Americans are answering the so-called new economy with renewed labor vitality.

That's why Teamsters delivered the powerful message to UPS that low-wage part-time jobs take our economy backward--not forward.

Just in the last few months, thousands of UAW members at GM local unions have stood up to management's efforts to violate the contract provisions that protect vacation and relief time they have earned.

At Action! Motown, a crowd of 100,000 strong, jammed downtown Detroit in support of the newspaper workers' struggle for justice with Gannett and Knight-Ridder.

On college campuses, young people are fighting for their rights to organize and bargain collectively. For example, more than 10,000 University of California graduate teaching assistants have joined the UAW.

From Watsonville to Washington--American workers have every right to stand up for their rights and fighting for a future that keeps our economy and our democracy healthy.

This Labor Day and every day thereafter--that's just what we are going to keep on doing.
 
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