VIEWPOINT: Labor Day 2000: Nation's union movement is alive, well - and growing

Rick Bender -- President of the Washington State Labor Council

On this Labor Day, many of you will once again be confronted with various versions of an "obituary" for organized labor. These annual pronouncements of labor's imminent demise have been issued every year for at least 20 years by the media elite. And they've been wrong for 20 years.

This year, the American labor movement is remarkably strong. Our actual numbers continue to grow, and our supporters and allies are also increasing in number. In fact, we invite anyone interested in the new labor movement to log on to the first nationwide Online Labor Day festival at: www.workingfamilies.com and see for yourselves what we're up to.

You'll find worker-friendly shopping tips, homework help for kids, tips on paying for college and basic information on your workplace rights, all in an easy-to-access Internet site that offers a wealth of information and opportunities. It's a convenient way for the public to learn how unions improve people's lives while also making the Web work for working people.

The Washington State Labor Council's own Web site, www.wslc.org, has grown into a popular source of information about state issues and events. We are able to post alerts on urgent developments and notices for labor disputes or mobilizations by using this tremendous low-cost tool. It was one of the key organizing elements of our huge effort last fall to protest the World Trade Organization in Seattle, when some 40,000 union members peaceably marched through the streets of Seattle.

Having this kind of information available online is important because the commercial media have failed to inform the public about important issues such as the negative impact of the global economy on American workers or about our reinvigorated labor movement. In just the past few years, unions have organized thousands of new members - more than 265,000 new members in 1999 and nearly another 100,000 already this year.

Among the new AFL-CIO members in Washington this year are the 20,000 Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) members who waged a successful 40-day strike last winter to win a good new contract with the Boeing Co. SPEEA then went on in June to win the right to represent another 4,000 technical, administrative and clerical workers at Boeing's plant in Wichita, Kan. SPEEA also joined the "house of labor" when it affiliated with the International Federation of Professional and Technical Employees, AFL-CIO.

Workers in the high-tech field are not the only ones turning to unions. In agriculture, the 623 workers at Stemilt Growers in Wenatchee, the largest apple warehouse in Washington, are working on a first contract between the company and Teamsters Local 760 in Yakima. Last fall in Spokane, 255 Laidlaw bus drivers voted to join Council 2 of AFSCME. Workers at Parsec, a South Seattle rail yard, just voted this August to join Teamsters Local 174.

In Poulsbo, the 220 workers at Martha and Mary Lutheran Services and Child Care Center joined a union to improve working conditions and the standards of care for the nursing home patients and children in their care. The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 381 is now in the process of negotiating a first contract for the workers there.

A few months ago, nearly 1,000 members of Office and Professional Employees Local 8 and UFCW 1001 won their first contract with Providence Medical Center in Everett. Last month, District 1199NW won its first contract with Providence in Yakima to cover 450 workers. And the employees of Starbucks' roasting plant are also working on their first contract after voting to join Operating Engineers 286.

The ranks of organized labor are growing, and we look forward to a successful future organizing more members who can enjoy the benefits of union members, which include:

* Better earnings. On average, union workers take home paychecks that are 30 percent higher than nonunion workers. In 1999, union workers earned about $150 more a week than nonunion workers.

* Better benefits. Ninety percent of union workers have pension plans, and 86 percent have health insurance.

* Greater job stability. Union members also report greater job satisfaction. Even more important, their union contracts protect them from unjust discharge.

* More productive workplaces. According to several studies, the union productivity bonus ranges from 6 to 38 percent depending on the industry.

All workers benefit from the efforts of the labor movement. Just two years ago, the Washington State Labor Council sponsored Initiative 688 to increase the minimum wage. When voters passed I-688, thousands of nonunion workers earning the minimum wage got a pay increase and also won automatic cost-of-living protection for the future. Washington's workers are better off today because of labor's successful sponsorship of the minimum wage initiative.

I am confident that as we work to improve job safety laws, family leave benefits and other state laws, all workers - union and nonunion - will continue to benefit from our successes and our reinvigorated strength.

Rick Bender is president of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, the largest labor organization in the state.

09/04/2000