Restoring the Promise of the American Dream

The promise of America is that if you work hard, you will be rewarded. You will be able to provide for your family, own a decent home, afford quality health care, and enjoy a secure retirement. It is that promise that built a thriving middle class. It is the American Dream, and it has inspired generations of women and men who helped make this country great.

Today we are living through a period of profound economic change. We have new ways of communicating, new methods of production, new means of generating wealth, new global competition. And while many of the ways we used to do business have changed, the American Dream has not.

Today, in 2007, that dream is at risk. We stand at a moment of unprecedented economic opportunity, but that opportunity is not being extended to all. Tens of millions of Americans are working harder than ever just to stay afloat. The latest Census Bureau report shows that wages are dropping and more people lack health insurance.

On the other hand, a handful of incredibly wealthy people are prospering beyond all comprehension. Private equity CEOs are making on average more than $650 million -- or more than 22,000 times what the average American worker brings in. Put another way, it takes the average American worker one full year to make what a wealthy buyout CEO makes in only ten minutes.

The buyout industry and the big banks are cutting the heart out of the American economy. Global buyout corporation the Carlyle Group is taking over one of the nation's largest nursing home chains, ManorCare. As part of the deal, ManorCare's CEO Paul Ormond will personally profit up to $186 million dollars, money that could have gone to hire more nursing home aides to care for our loved ones. Even worse, ManorCare will pay no corporate taxes while it is owned by Carlyle. The lost federal, state and local tax revenues over the next five years? More than $600 million. There's a credit crunch on, and massive lenders like Bank of America are using their size and market dominance to run up fees and credit card rates, deny loans to working families and minority communities, and lay off workers.

This Labor Day, a greater percentage of the economy is going to profits than to wages, and a majority of parents believe their children will be worse off economically. Tens of millions of people in the U.S. are working harder than ever before, but they're still falling behind.

We are at a crucial moment, a moment that makes us ask what kind of country we want to be.

The answer to that question must include more workers uniting in unions -- the labor movement. Unions have always been the best anti-poverty, best pro-health care, best pro-family program around. Unions have done more to help working people experience economic success than any other program.

This week, a new report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research and Inclusion showed that workers in the lowest-paying jobs make about 16 percent more when they are members of a union, and they are 25 percent more likely to have health insurance or a pension plan.

Now, more than ever, as new technologies and new ways of thinking about efficiency have reduced workers to a line item on a balance sheet, unions are not only relevant -- we are indispensable.

As the economic landscape has shifted, the labor movement has needed to adapt to these new realities. I am proud to report that the 1.9 million workers united in SEIU stand at the forefront of the evolving labor movement. In recent years we have pioneered new models of organizing, like uniting workers in nontraditional employment situations. Since 1999, 400,000 home care workers have changed state laws throughout the country to give them the freedom to unite in a union.

We have established new relationships with employers who are willing to reward work, while continuing to hold accountable those who are not. We are acting on new ways to secure health care and retirement security that reflect rather than deny the new economic reality.

The bottom line is this: the American economy is not a zero-sum game. There is no good moral or economic reason why all workers cannot or should not share in the success and prosperity they helped create. We need to restore the promise of the American Dream. And that means choosing what kind of country we want to be.

-Andy Stern, President, Service Employees International Union

Also from SEIU this Labor Day, check out Cincinnati janitor Craig Jones' "Just Work" blog about turning minimum wages into livable wages.

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About SEIU: The 1.9 million-member SEIU is the fastest-growing union in North America. SEIU members are winning better wages, health care, and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers, not just corporations and CEOs, benefit from today's global economy.

Comments

[esquire07]

"We are at a crucial moment, a moment that makes us ask what kind of country we want to be."

Funny, as if Americans have achoice.

Dick Cheney is ready to Nuke the US and blame it on iran and the CIA created Al-Quieda.

What kind of a country we want to be - what a joke - facist, martial law, bankrupcy, Depression - that is what the US is going to be in a very short while.

A nation of dumbed down cowards.

[Guitarsandmore]

Today it is labor day and it would be nice to hear some encouraging words from our fearless leaders about labor day and what it means to us. But instead, George W. Bush is over in Iraq still trying to sell his wonderful war program of death. After all, it is much easier to pose for photo ops with the troops than to create some original thought on how to improve the lives of the poor and the working poor. Has there ever been a president more disconnected from the people?

[RollaMO]

Yes, but the question is whether a lack of unions would give us the $49 DVD player at Walmart. People out here still haven't equated the loss of the $20/hour manfucturing job with benefits with the everyday low prices they see as a godsend.

[naturegirl]

Interesting discussion. While I agree with Mr. Stern that the American way of life is changing profoundly, I don't agree with him that unions are the answer to it. Let's take my own personal experience. In spite of the fact that I'm a Latina woman (a double whammy in many circles), I worked in the private sector since the age of 14. I quickly moved up the line from a minimum wage job to one paying a living wage, with health insurance and a 401K. It was not until I obtained my Master's Degree (at great expense) that I became a union member. Since then, I have not observed any significant benefits. My income has gone up yearly by about 3%. My co-workers life for retirement and that pension plan. Had I invested my yearly $500.00 union dues, I believe that I would have done better with a money market fund. And now the union is backpeddling, as we begin to lose some of our benefits.I wonder what our union presidents receive by way of compensation.

People in other countries may not enjoy many of the benefits that we enjoy, but fewer Americans are enjoying them. More woman are dying in childbirth; obesity is at an all-time high. Fewer people have health care coverage. Parents mortgage themselves to the hilt so their children can get an education. Predatory lenders take advantage of the disadvantaged. The housing market bottoms out. And the list goes on. None of these ills can be cured by joining a union.

Unless our elected officials focus on helping to unite its constituency, by focusing on what we all want - a chance at the American Dream - we will continue our downward spiral. Instead of deflecting blame, infighting, and encouraging divisiveness, they should go back to basics with regard to domestic policy. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" should be achievable - with a little help - by everyone within our borders.

[bassface49]

Your list of problems that can't be helped by Unions omits THE main thing that Unions DO provide- fair, negotiated WAGES. That is the answer to all those problems. Another big answer is 'single payer healthcare' it would negate the problem that is bankrupting many businesses.
The benefits that you DO enjoy, i.e., the 40 hr work week, child labor laws, OSHA etc. are there because of UNIONS.
Unions require PARTICIPATION just like democracy requires PARTICIPATION.
Its up to US.

[disenfranchised]

You make valid points, indeed we face major social and economic problems as middle class working citizens due to the massive corporate abuse which has concentrated power and money.

But I wonder why we don't start to model our industry and enterprise as cooperatives, rather than corporations. Co-ops enable empowerment and inclusion of members, they give incentive for higher productivity and efficiency.

It has been proven that labor unions can just as easily concentrate money and power, given the opportunity.

[research]

I think the unions have missed opportunities. They went for various perks when they had the upper hand. I think they should have gone for stock!

[Bad actor]

"American Dream", "unprecedented economic opportunity", "the new economic reality","profound economic change"--what in the hell does all of that mean ? I can tell you what "New World Order" means--hooray for me and screw you !
The "American Dream" is so much more than the pursuit of material goods. It is a resolve to lift all of our citizens to the greatest heights of liberty and justice and to reject all aspects of tyranny. Greed at intolerable levels has made a mockery of the "dream". Pettiness within the ranks has hurt the union image. Borderline-traitor politicians have us doubting "democracy", in general.
How many of the 1.9 million members are in this country illegally ? If they were denied membership, would the Waldorf run a "bring your own sheets" special ? If the same individuals entered the US legally, they would be welcomed with open arms.
Illegal immigration is to the labor movement what a hole is to a bucket. It is time for the labor movement to stand up and shout "America for Americans". Unions are just people who share a community of interests. Those interests extend beyond job action.
Wise planning can benefit people as consumers. We are watching deregulati­on-by-negl­ect of our food and safety by go-along-t­o-get-alon­g politicians who come forth after a crisis to say "so it never happens again." The next wimp that uses that copout should have it branded on the cheeks of his/her ass. We have regulations for the same reason that we put bars in a zoo and the animals have been running free too long. Labor can help lock the gates on the predators
Andy, I spent 30 years in industrial relations on both sides of the table and I have great respect for people like Russ Thomas (USW), Bob Buchanan (OCAW) and John Pesar (ALA) and others. I look forward to adding your name to that list in due time and wish you the best of luck to that end.

[Jason357]

To the younger folks out there...wh­en you hear someone saying something isn't a zero-sum game, that's code for them wanting you to let your guard down so they can get more of the limited resources for themselves. You'd better believe it's a zero-sum game, and start acting like it.

[Mariel]

In addition to list of Strikes, the Pullman Strike of l894. The officers of the American Railway Union went to prison. These included Eugene Debs and my grandfather, Martin J. Elliott. We have a picture of the four officers in Woodstock Prison, where they "read the Bible, Marx, and Shakespeare," according to news reports.

My grandfather was received fatal injury in a railway accident, leaving a widow and six children without any benefits.

[The Last Knight]

I believe what he says does has point, unions did help build this country and can still play a great role. However, I believe unions need to be refreshed or updated to be able to work in todays economy. We can say some are making to much, yet some have always made to much. I believe we have sold out America, How so?
For example if you shop at Wal-Mart you are helping the problem. The problem word is "Outsourcing", I loved Clinton as a president but the deals he made with China will sink the U.S.
If you want to buy cheap, then you will only earn cheap..

[patriotscholar]

In a way, Unions have served as an oversight to unscrupulous companies and executives who neither had the moral or ethical ability to treat workers fairly. In recent years, unions have had to battle for their employees in the face of onslaughts by lawmakers who neither understood the labor movements or misinterpreted labor. Unions are not bad, they are not "communists", they are American people seeking a better life for themselves and their families.

[bassface49]

The AMERICAN DREAM IS the mantra of the Middle Class. The Republican conservative movement has been trying to kill both for the last 60 years.
The complacency and self pity I'm seeing on these posts is disappointing.
Those of you who were in Unions and had bad experiences, what did you do to try to change it? If you didn't get involved and simply went home crying makes you a BIG part of the problem.
WE THE PEOPLE have the power but complacency is the enemy of that power.
ANY company doing business in this Country should have to play and pay by OUR rules, i.e. the American Worker.
That's why it says...'IN ORDER TO FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION'.
The FREE market is a myth and is a phrase, in the long list of MARKETING tricks, used to sell facism, i.e., 'the tax burden'.
Corporate de-regulation is the murder weapon that has been used to kill the American Middle Class and it is up to US to restore the American Dream and We the People.
Unions helped create the Dream and its time to organize again and REGULATE corporate GREED. The 'new world order' is stealing us blind.
The Viet Nam war ENDED when 3,000,000 showed up in protest. The Labor Movement needs to get off their collective asses and restore the rights of the workers by getting in the streets!
These neocon 'robber-barrons' don't think that we have it in us, sadly, they may be right. Stand up America and take YOUR Country back!

[michal54]

Do you HEAR this writer, people of the middle class??

NOW is NOT the time to jump under the covers and hope the dream returns.

WE, the people, have to stand up for our future in this changing world. A good start would be impeachment procedings.

[godlessclif]

A dream is not enough. We have to build an economic system that works. Economics is boring and hard to explain, so the greedy can run on soundbytes and easy answers and win elections.

We need an economic system that does not reward
corporations that screw their employees. Unions were a patch, a quick fix to stop companies from screwing over their employees. The capitalist incentive is ti screw both employees and customers
Low wages and high prices are dictated if maximizing profit is the way your system works.
The result is a huge economic crash.

"Look for what's clear and firm.
What is the rest?
The rest is mirages and blurry pictures
and milk mixed with water."
[That is the way to cheat in the old days.] "The rest is self-hatred and mocking other people and bombing.
So, just be quiet and sit down."
[That'd be a good thing to say to Bush.]
"Just be quiet and sit down.
The reason is you're drunk.
And this is the edge of the roof."
Robert Bly from Bill Moyer's PBS
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08312007/transcript3.html

[GW Crow]

John Lennon said it best when he said 'the dream is over'

[michal54]

When dreams end, reality begins. The dream being over doesn't mean we give up and take it. We have to fight for what is right.

When one stops dreaming and wakes up to reality, what does one do? That person gets up out of the comfort of the warm bed and hits the streets running!

[NABNYC]

I have many problems with Andy Stern's approach to union organizing.

During the Bush administration millions of Americans have been thrown out of work and their jobs have been given to illegal immigrants at half the wage. A good example is janitorial work in which the American workers were earning $12/hour, but were replaced by scab illegal immigrants at $5.50/hour­. Yes, I said scab and I mean scab. They came in and took American jobs at half the price.

Mr. Stern's response is to "organize" the scabs. In these circumstances, the right thing to do would have been to represent the fired employees, and help them get their jobs back at $12/hour. Instead, Mr. Stern offers to assist the illegal immigrants, and maybe get them up to $6.00/hour­, in exchange for union dues.

No matter how you cut it, Stern is organizing and representing scabs who came here to take American jobs. I have no animosity towards the illegal immigrants who are just trying to earn a living. But a scab is a scab.

By playing dumb about the fact that these workers are illegal, Stern grants a level of legitimacy to the employers who hire illegal immigrants at half the wage Americans had earned. Meat packing, carpet manufacturing, construction. These are not jobs that Americans won't do, but they won't do it for $6.00/hour­.

Stern ratifies the corporate mantra that the illegal immigrants are already here, and cannot be deported. But by organizing them and cooperating with the corporate rulers, Stern turns the unions into an anti-Ameri­can-worker entity. Stern is sitting on the side of the table with the owners, while American workers are out on the street.

Instead of organizing the scabs, Stern should organize the Americans whose jobs were taken by the scabs. Instead of "demanding $6.00/hour for the scabs, Stern should have demanded $12.00/hou­r that the Americans had been earning.
I understand Stern may be a nice guy, but I think he is on the wrong side of this.

[dandjus]

Bravo---there is an oversupply of low skilled labor because of the porous borders.