Unions
Unions in this country have had a checked past and now an undervalued future. In the 20's & 30's the union movement was one of violence by organizers, against organizers by business thugs and organized crime involvement. Organized crime involvement increased after WWII and strengthen its ties to organized labor. In the 50's & 60's American post war prosperity created ever increasing jobs and middle class wealth. Unions helped this process through collective bargaining. This increased wages, and benefits helping to propel blue collar workers into the middle class. Unfortunately, union leadership did not do what business leaders of successful companies do over time - they did not plan for the future. Instead they continued the continued the wage and benefit model to the point that it drove up cost to consumers, requiring close union shops in major cities (NYC, Chicago, etc). With technology change in the 80's & 90's union membership began to decrease and became less valuable. The parasitic 'wage & benefit' negotiating strategy destroyed their 'host' employers (both private companies & public governments). If they had leadership who could have built business plans to anticipate the impact technology would have on their membership, they could still be providing value to American workers and businesses. Instead, they are now only a left wing political group, forcing unions dues to be paid by non-members and using same for political benefits. With almost no value remaining for the country, they have declining membership and have become a drag on economic growth. If union leadership would develop a plan, that both political parties could align with, there is a chance they could reclaim an important role in the America economy of the 21st century.
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The Labor Movement Is 'Woking' Itself to Death

12/8/21
from Newsweek,
9/24/21:

In hindsight, the biggest warning sign for the prospects of unionizing Amazon's Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse was, well, a sign: a large placard, posted by organizers outside the facility's entrance, featuring Stacey Abrams dressed as Rosie the Riveter, declaring "We Can Do It!" through a COVID mask.

Adopting the failed gubernatorial candidate and progressive darling as the symbolic heroine of the campaign was part of an effort to link unionization to progressive causes—voting rights, racial justice and gender equity—that organizers thought would appeal to a predominantly Black workforce. "Stacey the Riveter" may have been a hit with Democratic politicians, who posed for pictures with the sign on visits to the facility. But not so much with the workers themselves. Abrams lost her election by 2 points; the union lost its by more than 30.

This "intersectionality" of labor issues and virtually every progressive social cause has become a defining feature of union activism. United Steelworkers, for instance, has "encourage[d] all local unions to initiate LGBTQ+ activism" led by its Steel Pride affiliate organization. Labor leaders from the SEIU and other national labor unions, meanwhile, have formed the Labor for Equality Council to promote the Equality Act because "LGBTQ rights and labor rights are intrinsically linked." Labor reformers have fallen prey, too. Harvard University's "Clean Slate for Worker Power," for instance, maintains that its blueprint for redesigning labor law "must start with inclusion" and "address systemic racial and gender oppression."

The year before, then-AFL-CIO president, Richard Trumka, pledged that organized labor would "be an ally" of the LGBTQ community and Black Lives Matter by "invest[ing] in Black transgender leadership" and "electing candidates...who understand the intersectionality of worker and LGBTQ rights."

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