My mind is officially boggled by
information I found in Bill Moyers blog in an article, Organizing Workers in the Gig Economy. Here comes the mind
bogglers:
First, According to the Freelancers Union almost 1/3rd
of the folk who work in this country are freelancers. That is 42 million
people! I find that absolutely amazing. Of course there is a problem with
freelancing, where do you get competitive health insurance, pension funds,
overtime, sick leave and things that ordinarily employed people take for
granted. And that is where the union comes in. They are trying to provide those
amenities for the members, about 165,000 in our country so far.
The article in large part is an interview
with Sara Horowitz, whose poppa was a labor lawyer and has more family history
related to labor unions. Thus she knows firsthand the value labor unions have
played in the history of this country.
Labor unions are not particularly popular
with a lot of people today and we forget the important role they have played in
our nation’s history of providing for America’s work force when he was badly
taken advantage of.
The Freelancers Labor union reminds me more
of food coops, community gardening centers, credit unions and things of that
nature. Horowitz started the union basically to get good rates for health
insurance. Unlike traditional labor unions they don’t have collective
bargaining with some company or industry. They just work together to get
benefits in larger market buying numbers.
Here’s is how she puts it: Freelancers Union is a union for the 21st
century. The country’s modern conception of unions was formed in the industrial
era, but there were workers’ groups – federations, guilds, alliances – long
before collective bargaining units. The essence of a union is that it’s a place
where workers can join together to solve their problems and take advantage of
opportunities. There isn’t a democracy in the world without a union movement –
and, in fact, the first thing dictators do is shut down the unions. I believe
unions are going to evolve and include models like ours. We see ourselves as
builders of innovative ways to make the economy stronger and more connected.
I’m impressed.
I strongly support this, as it eschews the AFL-CIO, UAW, NEA, etc model of bullying workers to join against their will.
ReplyDeleteA union that has to directly appeal to workers instead of forcing them to join against their will is an accountable, legitimate organization.
As for "Unlike traditional labor unions they don’t have collective bargaining with some company or industry.", who is to say this will never happen with this union. But it would happen because the workers and companies want this. Not because of some sort of law forcing people to do this against their will. Again, the legitimate way.
Since the industrial revolution it has been a cyclical thing: the yin of worker maltreatment and the yang of too
ReplyDeletemuch worker power. Look for that cycle to continue until the workforce consists of uncomplaining efficient robots...