The benefits from union membership to society are clear, and yet the Republicans and some conservative Democrats try to blame unions for everything, as though wanting health care, decent pay that shows respect for the worker, and the ability to put some money aside for your children's education and your own retirement, are not normal and worthy goals.
The "right-to-work" law in Virginia is an example: look at the states that have no laws taking the benefits of organizing away from worker, most are the "Blue" states and they (until the recent Wall Street caused recession) were doing very well. California, New York, Connecticut, and Maryland are examples of Blue states that not only have wages higher than(say) Virginia, Texas, Louisiana, and Georgia, they also pay the taxes needed to keep afloat many Red sates like Alaska, North and South Dakota, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. If you are looking for the states needing, and demanding, the most in public benefits, you are looking for right-to-work states. There may be another reason why Alaska needs $2 in public spending while it generates $1 federal taxes, but if they can't stand on their own two feet, why are they lecturing the rest of us? When you talk about cutting taxes and spending, remember that Virginia gets $1.50 in federal jobs, mostly in the Northern Virginia and the Tidewater regions, for every $1 we pay in federal taxes. Cutting $1 in taxes will cut atl least $1 in spending right here, and perhaps a lot more. After all, Alaska is not going to give up $2 for every dollar they pay in lower taxes, and they have two senators, just like we do. The only states that might really benefit are the Blue states; they would like to see less of their money going to states that expect the government to keep them afloat.
And it is not just union states: Germany has strong labor unions that set most of the wage scales and working conditions in the county, they have full national health at a cost that would save close to $1 trillion if it was standard in the USA, at least four weeks of annual leave, by law, and U.S. has recently had to ask the German government to buy more from the U.S.A.; the Germans can do with union workers, what U.S. employers can not do with labor they refuse to even pay a living wage to; Germany has strong exports to the USA, China, and the EU. It is not for union workers to slow down, it is for the USA to catch up.
CEOs may find unions annoying, it is always easier to please just the few who are very rich, but nations with a strong union presence give voice the people, which is what a democracy is supposed to be about, not just voice to those who can afford the most ads on television. When labor has voice, things get better for everyone. The United States is behind most industrial nations in many significant areas, and two that are of interest to every family are infant mortality and life expectancy.
Infant Mortality: According to the CIA World Fact Book, the the USA has 6.14 infant deaths for every 1,000 births. is much worse than Sweden (2.74), Iceland (3.21), France (3.31), Spain (3.42), NOrway (3.55), Germany (3.95), Switzerland (4.12), Netherlands (4.66), Taiwan (5.26), and Cuba (5.72) (not all countries are reported here)
Life Expectancy: The USA ranks 49th, behind Japan, Australia, Canada, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium, Finland, South Korea, Puerto Rico, Denmark.
The Republicans in congress, and some Democrats, blame union teachers for not doing a better job of educating this nation's children, but neither the congress nor the parents are able to tell this nation's young people that a high school education leads to job with respect and dignity, paying a living wage, or a chance to go to college, and get an even better job.
Let's blame the union teachers for not preparing students when the congress can show that if the students are properly prepared, the result is a reasonable share of the products and services they produce; respect and a living wage.
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