On Populism

by Eyck Freymann


Risubhav recently wrote a piece on unions and populism. I take issue with him on several different points.

He asks "what truly separates a corporation from a union"? Let me answer that. For the entire scope of human history, social dynamics were such that the worker had little or no say in his (or her) pay, treatment, or rights. There were no environmental laws, no minimum wage, no vacation, no lunch hour, no sick leave, no child labor laws. Whenever workers tried to organize, they would be beaten back or fired outright. They wanted a few simple rights that I (and most Americans) believe should be guaranteed to all. Continued: Click "Read More"

The corporations or companies for which they worked refused, by and large, to give them these rights. Eventually, the governments banned child labor and put in place a set of laws to help promote the well-being of the worker. Ultimately, all behavior can be attributed to a self-interested motive. The difference between unions and corporations is that the former works for the benefit of those at the bottom, while the latter works (at least in most large corporations today) to minimize the benefits and pay of the lower-tier workers in order to pay for raises at the top and keep profits high.

Take Wal-Mart as an example. The company fires any workers suspected of engaging in union activities. The company's workers get notoriously poor pay, no health benefits of any kind, and are often exploited by higher members of the company. It is widely acknowledged among former store managers that part of the job training was to electronically shave down the hour sheets of the employees. Hundreds of thousands of these Wal-Mart employees can't afford health care for themselves or their families. Why is Wal-Mart afraid of unions? It knows that unionized workers are far more likely to push for improvements in pay and treatment.

So why is populism a bad thing? The top two or three percent controls a vast percentage of our nation's wealth. We live simultaneously in a nation of millions of both millionaires and foreclosures. Is it wrong to try to help the bottom 90% of the population, the people that are hit hardest by the recession?

Unions help the economy. By ensuring decent-paying jobs, unions open up the average worker to spend more, keeping the economy invigorated.