I was "raised union."
My mother, who immigrated to the United States from Nicaragua, worked the 3 p.m. to midnight shift at a toy factory after the birth of my younger twin sisters. She was a member of the United Rubber Workers, which later merged with the Steelworkers Union.
My father worked at a battery recycling plant and was a shop steward there for the Teamsters Union. His plant went on strike several times when I was a kid. During those times, he explained to my mother, my six brothers and sisters, and me that it would be tough. Although the union paid a small part of his wages when they were on strike, it was a hardship. But we understood that we had to make sacrifices. And we did.
When I was in ninth grade, my dad would come home at the end of the day and ask me to sit with him at our kitchen table. From his pockets, he would pull pieces of paper with writing in Spanish on them -- notes given to him by his co-workers. There were all sorts of things scribbled on them: concerns about health and safety practices at the plant, questions about paychecks that didn't add up, and ideas about how to improve the efficiency and productivity of the line. He'd ask me to translate them into English for him.
The first time, I didn't understand what they were. When I asked, he explained: "They are the voice of the workers." He said that the paper scraps started a conversation between the union and management. He told me it was a way to get them together "at the table." After that, I understood.
My dad told that story to President Obama when they met. He said, with obvious pride: "Hilda has been doing this sort of work for a very long time. She still understands."
I do. And since then, for my entire adult life, I have honored, respected and celebrated the voice of workers, which can only be guaranteed when they have the right to organize and bargain collectively.
That's important to remember, particularly now, as states and cities grapple with enormous fiscal challenges, and everyone must sacrifice to meet those challenges. The public employees who are critical to our communities -- from nurses to teachers to firefighters and police officers -- have made and will continue to make sacrifices to help close budget gaps. But some state leaders have gone too far in the process. Budget sacrifices are one thing; demanding that workers give up their rights as union members -- to take away their voice -- is another.
For me, it's not lofty rhetoric. During my two years as labor secretary, I've seen firsthand time and time again how unions make remarkable contributions to the strength and prosperity of our nation. In workplaces from my home state of California to Washington, D.C., where I spend most of my time now, and everywhere in between, organized labor is helping businesses improve their bottom line, make workplaces safer and more productive, and ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to achieve the middle class.
Organized labor does the same for state and local government "business," too. I'm talking about the men and women who care for our neighbors, teach our children, keep our communities safe and clean, and run into burning buildings when others run out of them. These dedicated public servants -- many of them union members -- do their important work with little fanfare or recognition. Through their unions, they have a voice in their workplace, in their future... and most importantly, in our future.
They've made sacrifices, too -- particularly in the past decade -- and have worked closely with state and local leaders to help the public sector do what it is supposed to do. Their participation in our civil society is paramount to its success.
Their collective voice gives them the opportunity and the right to actually improve public education, public heath, and public safety and security. They deserve the right to have their voices heard when they speak out for job security and safe workplaces. Unions fight for better wages and benefits, not just for their members, but for everyone. They advocate for quality jobs that build a strong middle class.
In hard times, we all understand the need for sacrifices. Scapegoating teachers, firefighters and bus drivers by taking away their basic rights is not going to solve any problems. This is a time to find ways to work together and forge compromise. Neither side will get everything it wants, and everyone should share in the sacrifice.
Collective bargaining -- what my dad called sitting "at the table" -- is a cornerstone of our democracy and our middle class. It shouldn't be cast aside in hard times. It can and should be part of the solution. Just as my dad explained to me with those paper scraps at our kitchen table, the best solutions come from people sitting down at the table together.
Follow Sec. Hilda Solis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/HildaSolisDOL
First of all, it is wrong of you to endorse, or dismiss, labor unions in representation of the Secretary of Labor. This holds true for the President, as well.
Secondly; what "rights" are being taken away from firefighters, police, educators and other public workers by limiting collective bargaining?
If politicians had not accepted union endorsements for so many years, the unions would not be as strong as they are today and the politicians today would not be susceptible, or rather...be beholden to the pressures of the union bosses. Unions were an asset once upon a time, perhaps in your father's and grandfather's eras, but today the union bosses strangle our economy with their ongoing demands for their union members to date. Note I refer to union bosses. You know: those people who continue to eat, get fat and continue to collect their own paychecks while the union members strike.
To the HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR MidwestMomma;
You said it yourself: "As this nation has twisted and turned into the 21st century much has changed..."
It may take 2 years for my case to reach arbitration. By then, my need for telework may be moot.
Was it easy to give up ham and eggs for fried mush? Hell no! But to ease the discomfort they started every meal with everyone in the family naming a neighbor or schoolmate they were standing up for. Grandma said it was the best meals she ever served.
Being union isn't something that just happened it was fought for with the sacrifice and blood of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. As this nation has twisted and turned into the 21st century much has changed but never my pride in being union.
Obviously, the Dems in Wisconsin do NOT actually believe this.
(Let's talk about the REAL "Party of No"!! )
http://www.nlpc.org/category/people/gerald-w-mcentee
As you know, but refuse to admit, this fight is about private verses public union power and how that power has driven up the state pension liabilities.
(What? The states agreed to those luxurious pensions? Well, yes, they were made by the bought and paid for Dems who never passed on an opportunity to spend more public money for their supporters. The chickens have come home to roost- uhhhh... I guess not yet.)
In my life I have watched unions strike companies right out of business. I have seen unions become so unreasonable in their demands that a companies have ultimately closed their doors and have remained closed. I have also seen some good come from unions in forms of safety regulations and fighting unjust terminations.
I do not believe that any union should be mandatory, nor do I believe that a person should be paid more or less because of their union status. I do believe having a united voice is a good thing, but that united voice should not be heard strictly from unions while all others go unheard. I also believe that no one should profit from being a member of a union. The president of a union should not earn any more or less than the people he/she are speaking on behalf of.
Unions are subject to the same corruption that infiltrates such entities that are constantly in search of power. While I can support the workers and their voice, I cannot support any organization that has the power to dictate how a business or government is run while overlooking the will of the people that make its operation possible.
Do you understand that salaries and wages in the US have been stagnant for THIRTY YEARS? Do you understand that workers have lost benefits year after year? Do you realize that many employers only offer PART TIME employment so they don't have to offer benefits?? Do you know how many jobs have gone outside of our country? Did you read Secretary Solis' post? Unions are about giving workers a voice.
And now that I've written in response to you--I can see that you're just a kid--probably spouting something you heard. But the nutty thing you said about not wanting your health-care subsidized...what does that even mean? Paid health insurance is a COMPENSATION for doing a job. A pension is delayed COMPENSATION for doing a job.
$75K is lavish to someone making $40K: and exhorbitant to someone without an income.
US wages have been stagnant since we started having to compete with foreign manufacturers in the 1970's (after they rebuilt the destruction of WWII). Excessive wages, benefits, and regulations add cost without adding value. Consumers set prices, not providers. Providers have to reduce costs to meet what consumers are willing to pay.
Wages and Benefits exist to attact employees. When labor is limited but in demand, they go up: when labor is not in demand, they go down. Like water, they seek their own level based on the terrain. Since 1970 that terrain is global, not national. The Chinese minimum wage increased 11% last year: to $0.85/an hour.
There is no golden goose; only the Fed can print money; everyone else has to compete and the best product (or service) at the lowest cost wins every time.
The policeman that requires you to pay teachers is the Democrat Party. In turn teachers and other public union members send millions in dues, which are extracted from the tax paying public, to Democrats. Teachers and other public union folks are the force behind tax increases of all kinds, given that more taxation is good for the public employee paycheck.
Private union members don't have the lock on your wallet that public employees do. If you don’t like the price of the union plumber, you can hire a non-union plumber. But no such competitive relief exists in the public sector. As government grows larger and larger, encouraged by public sector unions and other Democrat Party supporters who benefit from higher tax rates, the public sector unions grow in power, arrogance, and greed.
As the private sector suffers from unemployment, underemployment, falling wages, vanishing 401Ks, and increasing food and energy prices, public union members righteously demand to keep the status quo, that is, to retain the system that has for 50 years given them competition-free access to the earnings of tax paying American
Stated clearly, your analysis is absurd. One side has the power to ask while the other side has the power to decide. You assume that those with the power to ask have greater power than those with the power to decide. That is ridiculous on its face. Why do you really fear permitting workers to negotiate the terms of employment? Obviously, they are not permitted to dictate those terms.
This is the typical union mentality.
I watched for decades as the Chicago Teachers Union held the school administrations hostage (by shutting down the schools) until the admin gave in to the unions demands- otherwise the schools remained closed and the parents put even more pressure on the admin to reopen the schools. The admin seldom got anything in return during negotiations. As a result the school system went broke in the late 1970s.
Did all of the gains by the union improve Chicago education?
No. In 1987, U.S. Secretary of Education declared the Chicago Public Schools "the worst in the nation."
Even today, with all of the union gains of 45 years, the system states that 30 percent of students do not graduate.
In the last decade, the US has doubled its education spending with no improvement in learning outcomes. Why have the NEA and AFT (teachers unions) not advanced any useful or effective reforms to our nineteenth century teaching methods?!?! Could it be because they are more interested in their own benefits (as their union officer state!!)
NO to public union power!!
They tell us what they are going to get paid which they accomplish by converting their dues to political graft, buying politicians who will give them what they want. Who were the largest contributors to Obama? Who has had the almost daily contact with the White House? PSU get daily contacts while Cabinet officers haven't seen or heard from the Pres in over 2 years: what's wrong with this picture? Who is the president serving? (hint: not the non-union taxpayer).
You should give serious thought to leaving Wonderland.
Opening his doors on Monday with a new workforce of zero experience would be essentially the same workforce has he had on Friday.
My experience is that most people want to do a good job and if their role is clearly defined and they are given the training and tools to do the work, they will make every effort to excel.
Small business is the incubator for employment in America. Most are started, and built, by people with zero experience in running a business; they compensate by working harder and longer; and striving not to make the same mistake twice; and praying that the mistakes they make won't be terminal.
Very few care about, or consider, their struggles: but if the planets align and they build a growing concern,THEN everyone feels entitled to take a piece of the action.
If unions are so good, why don't they start businesses?