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Labor Learns
Long-term Lesson on Loyalty: Siding with Environmentalists
over Employers
By Rubin Patterson, Ph.D.
The Truth Contributor
Reporting on progress is indeed refreshing – so long as the
discussion doesn’t creep into false happy talk. The progress
that I have observed and will discuss is the strengthening
coalition between labor and environmentalists.
In past decades, organized labor regularly sided with
corporate polluters against environmentalists. We probably
aren’t too surprised by this fact since big industrial
unions helped to deliver higher wages and better working
conditions in some of the dirtiest industries, such as the
auto, steel and chemical industries.
Non-unionized labor also benefited in the form of higher
wages stemming from organized labor’s successes. So let’s
just say that labor didn’t have an immediate economic stake
in siding with environmentalists against colossal industrial
polluters. But, once again, there is progress: labor and
environmentalists are now becoming unified to create more
and better jobs (green jobs) and a healthier environment.
Unions historically have been situated on the spectrum
between employers and environmentalists. Labor has tended to
align itself closer to the employer end of the spectrum than
to the environmentalist end. Employers, using the reliable
weapon “environmental job blackmail,” have managed to keep
labor from asking for too much in terms of relief from
occupational health hazards and contamination of
communities.
That is, employers would cavalierly say, “Hey, if we can’t
use this particular chemical or process – which may be toxic
or carcinogenic – in whatever way we choose, then the
company will either collapse or be forced to relocate.”
Figuring that immediate economic disaster is worse than the
slower, long-term erosion of the health of workers and the
environment, labor tended to side too often with needlessly
excessive polluting employers to protect declining numbers
of high-wage industrial jobs.
However, as I said, progress is currently afoot on this
front.
But before I explain that progress, let me say this: I
continue to be amazed at how well industrialists, Wall
Street and Washington have managed to turn Americans against
organized labor, even here in the industrial heartland. Many
anti-union workers basically shout some version of this
sentiment: “I am a strong, intelligent, self-reliant
individual; I don’t need some union supporting me.”
I always found such statements interesting since no major
employer is without a “corporate union.” More specifically,
I mean that all major corporations belong to unions, but
they are simply called “trade associations.” These corporate
giants can claim to be strong, intelligent and self-reliant,
too, but they all see value added from being in a corporate
union.
Some of the corporate union memberships are Exxon-Mobil in
the American Petroleum Institute, Owens-Illinois in the
National Manufacturers Association, DuPont in the American
Chemistry Council and JP Morgan Chase in Financial Services
Roundtable.
Anyway, another reason behind the previous
labor-environmentalist rift is the social class differences.
Historically, organized labor has been mostly comprised of
laborers with an education ranging from less than high
school to some college. Traditional environmentalists, on
the other hand, have tended to be highly-educated
professionals.
For instance, a study conducted at the time of the founding
of the Environmental Protection Agency revealed that nearly
60 percent of environmental volunteers held college or
graduate degrees. Hence, the divergent priorities of trade
unionists and environmentalists kept them from uniting their
movements.
Fortunately, the labor-environmentalist dynamic is radically
better in 2009 than it was in 1979 or even in 1999. Labor
and environmentalists are now talking a common language and
are experiencing something of an identity consolidation. The
so-called blue-green coalitions – where blue represents
labor and green obviously environmentalists – are not just
marriages of convenience but are becoming concretized for
the long haul. With industrial unionized jobs drying up, it
is not surprising that labor would be siding increasingly
with environmentalists, both of whom envision new employment
prospects centering on renewable energy, reduced pollution
and energy efficiency.
The collective identity of labor, environmentalists and
social justice advocates was taken to another level over the
past few days when they launched a new campaign to help pass
a clean energy bill. The new group is known as Clean Energy
Works, and it is comprised of unions, environmental
organizations, social justice organizations and other
progressive entities committed to finally help America
develop a framework and detailed strategies for building a
greener economy. As a group, Clean Energy Works isn’t just
about labor issues or environmentalist issues; instead, it
is about both and so much more.
If you were shocked and even repulsed at the aggressiveness
of the health insurance corporate union (a.k.a., “America’s
Health Insurance Plans”) this summer in town-hall meetings
in efforts to defeat health care reform that would benefit
American workers, wait until later this fall when Washington
takes up clean energy.
Foul tactics will be similar to that witnessed today with
health care reform. The American Petroleum Institute, the
National Association of Manufactures, the US Chamber of
Commerce and other corporate unions are going to come out
with a take-no-prisoners approach to preventing or at least
crippling our progress toward cleaner energy and a greener
economy.
Labor and environmentalists know that they must work
together with a consolidated identity and unity of purpose
to defeat the organized corporate unions that are determined
to hang onto a fading industrial era.
Rubin Patterson, Ph.D., is professor of Sociology and the
interim director of Africana Studies at The University of
Toledo. He may be contacted at rpatter@UTNet.Utoledo.edu
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