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Professor: Labor resurgence has become stagnant
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Published: September 9, 2009
The resurgence of the labor movement has stalled, according to an Elon University Law associate professor.
Eric Fink addressed a group of Mitchell Community College students and staff on Tuesday about the issues labor unions are facing in terms of the Employee Free Choice Act, unity and the status of the National Labor Relations Board.
The Mitchell Community College Diversity Task Force organized the lecture, titled "The State of the Unions: U.S. Labor Today."
Less than a year ago, following the presidential and congressional elections, many predicted a resurgence of the labor movement, Fink said.
Membership has been on the decline since it peaked in the 1950s, when unions represented close to 50 percent of all workers, Fink said. Now, less than 10 percent of the population belongs to a union.
Fink admitted he was pro-labor union and a bit partisan on the matter. He has represented several unions and employees suing unions.
One topic of little discussion when it comes to unions is job stability and employee treatment, he said.
Money and wages are discussed often in debates about labor.
The National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act of 1935, was put in place to make employers and employees come together and negotiate like adults instead of fighting, Fink said.
However, today's union system is broken, he said.
"Respect for the law has ceased to be effective," Fink said. "That consensus has broken down. It is more market oriented and individualists' point of view. The hostility toward the notion of having to bargain became increasingly offensive on the management side.
"It is hard for workers to insist on being paid more."
The alternative that has been proposed is the Employee Free Choice Act, Fink said.
The opposition to this bill, which is still before Congress, has a point that the dissolution of the secret ballot for union elections might allow people to be intimidated or coerced, he said.
In the current situation, secret ballots don't matter because employers have the right to set the election date, force employees to listen to speeches about why unions are the wrong choice, and deny unions access to employees, he said.
Right now, it does not appear that the bill will gain any traction in its current form, Fink said.
Another major topic for labor unions is the National Labor Relations Board, he said.
Only two of the five seats are currently filled and the Federal Court of Appeals has ruled until the remaining seats are filled none of the rulings made by this panel will have legal standing.
Fink said President Barack Obama has nominated three people, but no action has been taken toward confirming these appointments.
Nikkole Davis said she thought it was a timely and kind of depressing speech about the state of employment.
She said no one is really sure where the jobs are going to come from when the economy improves.
Josh Anzini, a former Freightliner employee, said the country has lost a huge chunk of its industry overseas because of free trade agreements.
"We don't have a place to work any more," he said.
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