This month members at GP in the mid-continent held their noses and voted in a contract with a massive concession on health insurance. After years of struggle to give southern workers the same benefits as western workers, the Nelson Trust health insurance program was taken away by threats and intimidation. This vote will cost members sizeable amounts of income and will give G-P a large windfall. These workers had a choice. It was to vote in this concession or go on strike and be guaranteed that they would be replaced. Our brothers and sisters did the wise thing. They have decided to live and fight another day.
When might that day be? It might be a day when a Democratic President appointed NLRB exists that will actually defend worker’s rights, putting an end to the travesty that is labor law in the US today. It might be a day when the market for wood products is stronger. It might be a day when it is illegal to permanently replace striking workers, as it is in every other industrialized country in the world. It might be a day when workers understand that the fear planted in them by their boss is no more real than the fear of monsters under the bed of their children. I do not know when that day will come. But I do know one thing, that day will come.
But this raises another question, which is, when is a union not enough, because for these G-P workers in the mid-continent the union was not enough.
There are a number of answers to this question. A union is not enough when as many mill sites of a company are not union as are union. When the company has non-union sites if they are making the same product they can merely shift production from one site to another. This weakens the union mill’s ability to get a strong contract and better wages. Even if the non-union mill is a different product it still gives the company a source of revenue when the union mill is threatening to cut off the company’s money. To prevent what happened to G-P mid-continent workers from happening to you, you must understand that organizing is your job. If you know any one who works at a non-union woodworker operation you need to give that name to your union officers or to the District Representative.
A union is not enough when a sizeable numbers of workers in right-to-work-for-less states decide it is better not to join the union and anger the boss than it is to join with you and fight for social justice and fairness. When the company decides to play hardball the first thing they do is to measure the strength of the members. If the members are already scared then the company’s job is easy. If there is a large group of non-members the company’s job is still easier. As a member you know that your raise or benefits will be determined by how many non-members are in the mill. It is up to you to educate these members that by not joining the union they are making everyone weaker.
A union is not enough when the community does not care. Doctors in the towns where these G-P concessions were accepted will see their revenues drop. Local merchants will see their sales decline. State and local governments will see their tax revenues drop. The amount of money going into the collection plate at church on Sunday will fall. It is absolutely critical to educate your community that unions help local economies grow. By keeping up wages and benefits more money is available for members to spend it in our rural communities. You must reach out to all community groups, it is their fight too.
A union is not enough when it is alone. Even the strongest and “badest” union in the world isn’t enough when it has no allies. When one group of workers sits by and lets another group suffer, being glad that their company hasn’t yet attacked them or having already taken concessions feeling that it was time for it to happen to others, everyone loses. We as workers are all in this together. When public employees are attacked we are weakened. When nurses are denied the right to bargain our strength is diminished. When teachers face pay cuts we too are harmed. An injury to one is indeed an injury to all.
All of the above are important and true. But there is one time above all others when a union is not enough. That time is when the members think it is some one else’s job to be a union member. When you think it is the business agent’s job to organize, or that it is the steward’s job alone to enforce the contract. Most of all when you are afraid or embarrassed to stand up and say I am a union member and I am proud to be one. That is when no matter what else happens, a union is not enough.
It is up to you not only to be proud of yourself for being a union member but it is up to you to act like a union member all the times. As a union member you are equal to anyone. You can talk to other workers about why you joined the union. You can tell them that by joining they can help make the union better and stronger. You can attend union meetings and volunteer for committees. Like the church, boy scouts, little league and any other community organization, the union runs on volunteers. No matter what we do as union leaders, without you the union can never be enough.
March 2, 2007
