The Scene staff
America has seen more and more strikes against large exploitative companies in recent years, and this is an amazing step toward nationwide progress for workers’ rights.
The possibility that union members will walk off their jobs with Union Pacific Railroad due to serious complaints reminds us of the reality: Employees are doing all the work and experiencing physical and/or mental exhaustion, only to be compensated for a fraction of the wealth they generate, while CEOs and investors reap the benefits.
These are some of the many reasons why workers should band together in unions and strike if necessary. They need a voice in what happens to the companies that have their loyalty and sweat equity.
It’s important to know what a labor union is and does for the workplace to fully understand what we are missing out on in the United States, where only about 10% of the labor force is unionized.
Oxford’s definition of a labor union is an “organized association of workers, often in a trade or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interests.”
Unions are important because they allow employees to band together to negotiate for higher wages, benefits and working conditions and provide processes to make sure companies follow rules and laws.
But this is in direct contradiction to the interests of management and investors. They often don’t care about the well-being of employees, as long as they’re accumulating wealth.
A fitting example could be found recently in Buffalo, New York. Starbucks employees wanted to unionize, but the company engaged in unlawful and outright abusive tactics that could be described as “union-busting.”
Those tactics included, but were not limited to, intimidating workers by closing stores in the area, reducing pay, enacting discriminatory policies against union supporters and even firing them, as reported by the regional director of the National Labor Relations Board. The board accused Starbucks of 29 unfair labor practices for a total 200 violations of the National Labor Relations Act.
This law was enacted in 1935. It’s supposed to guarantee the right of private-sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining and take collective action such as calling strikes. 
Despite the law, Starbucks, Amazon and many other companies engage in union-busting of one type or another. But this shouldn’t discourage you from helping to form or getting involved with a union.
In the United States, many people believe unions are exploitative and bad for business. The 10% unionization rate is astonishingly low, particularly when compared to Sweden’s 65% in 2019. (These are the most recent figures available from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.)
The OECD is an international organization that works with governments and public officials to combine evidence-based statistics and work on solutions to social and economic problems and climate change.
U.S. citizens should know the benefits of joining a union, and Sweden is a good place to learn. The Swedish Confederate of Professional Association is an independent organization with 940,000 members in 22 unions.
SACO works to improve working conditions and protect workers from discrimination of all kinds, including those related to job security, salary and environment. We need something similar in this country.
I’m not claiming that unions never exploit workers, as exploitation lives in every part of society. But it is important to do your own research and find out which ones do a good job and which ones have problematic pasts.
Workplace discrimination, mistreatment and exploitation are very present in the United States, and it seems unionization is one of the only ways to combat them.
The younger generation seems to be embracing the concept of unionization, with the encouragement of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and others. Hopefully, the American people will see the benefits and get what is rightfully theirs through hard work and perseverance.
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite phrases: “United we bargain, divided we beg.” I was surprised to learn that it was first coined in 1768 by Founding Father John Dickinson in “The Liberty Song.”