"Who could have known?" That's the cry from the big-corporate and D.C. elite as the economy and the environment and so many important things crash around us. (Around us, not them, they're doing just fine and taking good care of each other.)
Who could have known that 25%-per-year house price increases was a bubble?Who could have known that a housing bubble could burst? Who could have known that deregulating the financial industry could lead to a financial meltdown?Who could have known that concentration of wealth could cause consumer demand to dry up?Who could have known that huge tax cuts for the rich combined with huge military spending increases could cause massive budget deficits?Who could have known that the Social Security trust fund needed a "lockbox" so it wouldn't be given away as tax cuts?Who could have known a deregulated deep-water well could cause a massive, destructive, uncontrolled underwater gusher?Who could have known that continuing to put carbon into the air would cause problems for the climate?Who could have known that moving our factories out of the country would lead to high unemployment and structural trade deficits?Who could have known that invading Iraq was wrong and a deadly, disastrous, costly, long-term mistake?Who could have known that a too-small stimulus that focused on tax cuts wouldn't turn the economy completely around and then conservatives would claim that the stimulus "killed the recovery?"
(List continues into infinity...)
Add organized labor to the list of those who got it right, time after time.
Organized labor was right about the 40-hour workweek.They were right about the middle class.They were right about the weekend.They were right about paid vacations.They were right about paid holidays.They were right about paid sick leave.They were right about providing good, secure retirement plans for everyone.They were right about providing unemployment benefits to tide people over.They were right about providing maternity leave, child care and family leave for families.They were right that trade agreements like NAFTA and letting China into the WTO would lead to massive trade deficits and job losses. They were right about workplace and consumer safety.They were right about keeping manufacturing in America.They were right about fighting discrimination in the workplace.They were right about raising the minimum wage and the effect that low-wage policies would have on the economy.They were right about the effect of excessive CEO pay on the economy. They were right about the devastating effect of the Bush tax cuts.They were right about the need to maintain and modernize our country's infrastructure.They were right about going green.They were right ab out the dangers of Wall Street's financialization of the economy.They were right about providing good health care to everyone.They were right about strengthening, not cutting Social Security.They were right about democratizing corporate governance.They were right about fighting privatization.They were right about fighting deregulation.They were right about providing good education opportunities to everyone.They were and are right that we need a national jobs agendaLabor was right about people joining together instead of being on our own.
(List continues into infinity...) They were right and they continue to be right.
And unions have been fighting for these things for all of us, not just for their members.
Please add to these lists in the comments! What other things could nobody have known, and what other things did labor get right?
Enjoy Labor Day. In fact, for those of you that still have jobs after the decades of conservative policies, enjoy having weekends off, the 40-hour week, paid vacations, sick pay, health care, etc. And if you have a job but don't have those things ... JOIN A UNION!
P.S. Here's an example of being right:
This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture as part of the Making It In America project. I am a Fellow with CAF.