President Biden says that he is the most pro-union President in history. That is almost true. Prior to the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike against the big three car manufacturers, I would have conceded that his statement is totally true. That is not so clear now.
While Biden gives lip service support to the striking auto workers, he pursues his Green New Deal government imposed electric vehicle policies that are directly injurious to those same auto workers.
Those on the picket line should look at the workers on their left and right. Some of those folks will not be around the shop in the future. They will be in the unemployment line instead because of Biden’s forced electric vehicle policy.
Others will lose their jobs to more robotics driven by Artificial Intelligence. The large pay increases make those technologies comparatively more affordable. That was the case in the past and will be again in the future. The new plants will not require as many workers as the old – and the old factories will be replaced or retrofitted. And the oversized pay increases will continue to make manufacturing in foreign nations as attractive as ever. The added costs will make American cars less competitive. We have seen this movie before.
Union officials with whom I have engaged at the bargaining table concede that some contracts result in the “survival of the fittest” – a concept by which the wage increases will be partially paid for from money saved through worker layoffs.
Biden is hoping that being the first President in American history to appear on the picket line will benefit him politically – maybe compensate for that god-awful electric vehicle policy that is screwing UAW workers and every other American. Biden’s appearance on the picket line comes after he and the White House went to extremes to explain why the President would not … and should not … get involved.
You can always tell when Biden is pushing malarky. His statement is often followed with “that’s the truth” or “and that’s a fact.” It rarely is either of them. He did it again when he claimed that “unions built the middle class.” He intentionally disregards the role of those 93 percent of non-union workers and the business leaders, large and small.
And then there is the big picture.
To the extent Biden positions himself as the most pro-union president in history, he is turning his back on non-union workers. He is demonstrating contempt for them. In his view, they should all be in unions. This bias toward the unions and contempt for the average non-union American workers has been inherent in Biden’s and the Democrat’s policies for generations.
They have always considered the Department of Labor as the provincial headquarters of unions and union officials. The Secretary of Labor must come from a union or be a strident sympathizer with union positions. The Department often works against the interests of non-union workers –most notably against right-to-work laws and onerous regulations. It would be more aptly named the Department of Organized Labor.
The President’s pro-union policy bias runs contrary to the reality of the labor marketplace. Private sector unions represent 6.3 percent of the American workers. That’s right. Approximately 93 percent of private sector workers are non-union.
Union membership has been dropping since the 1950s when it was estimated that more than one-third of the American workforce were unionized. That is an estimate since official figures were not tallied until 1983. At that time unions represented approximately 20 percent of workers.
Today it is under 10 percent – including public sector unions. Government has been the only growth area for unions – and that is an issue for a future commentary.
More significant is the fact that the actual number of union workers has decreased since 1983 from 18 million to approximately 14 million currently. That decrease in union membership came as the American population rose from 234 million to 331 million – a 41 percent increase.
There is another problem. The union bosses, who are in bed with the Democratic Party, are not fully in control of their members. According to Edison Research, President Trump won 40 percent of union workers in 2020. He won almost 30 percent of UAW members. Recent polling suggests that Trump is still popular among a large segment of union workers.
Biden, the unions, and their media sympathizers are talking about this as a new era of unions resurgence. Balderdash. The prospect of any significant growth in union numbers and power is merely a political narrative. Unions are the tail wagging the Democratic Party dog. They are the paper dragon … the toothless tiger.
So, why are they seemingly so powerful? Why do they have influence beyond their numbers? The answer is simple –and the most obvious. It is the money. Overall, billions upon billions of dollars flow almost exclusively to the Democratic Party in every election cycle – directly from union coffers or from the segment of the economy they represent or influence. This includes picking the pockets of workers. Unions may not own the Democratic Party, but they have most certainly taken out an option on it.
Biden has both a politicized and romanticized view of unions. He is not only old in years, but also is old in his thinking. He talks about unions as if it is the 1950s – or even the 1930s.
In terms of the 93 percent of non-union working Americans, Biden has been a disaster. His polices have consumed their labor in the form of taxes and higher prices. He has oppressed small and medium size businesses with Draconian regulations that impose enormous costs and retard hiring more employees.
Biden on the picket line has gotten a lot attention and praise from the leftwing media. It may impress a few workers, but most American workers will not be fooled or persuaded by a political stunt. Despite the political spin, Biden showing up on the picket line is an act of desperation.
Yes, Biden is a pal of the union bosses, but he is no friend of working men and women.
So, there ‘tis.