Commentary—

Workers Of The World, Lament!

By William A. Collins

Gilded wealth is

On a spree;

But no one’s looking

Out for me.

Business and economics schools regularly recite the time-honored mantra that one needs land, labor, and capital to run a business. And the greatest of these shall be capital. The least, as we well know by now, is labor.

Like many social reforms in this country, worker welfare blossomed in the 1930s and 40s. The New Deal was the vehicle of change; the Depression, the cause. In Russia conversely, an astonishing level of cruelty was the cause while communism became the vehicle. This turned out to be a popular movement, eventually capturing China, North Korea, Vietnam, and several others. Later on even Cuba, also heavily abused by outsiders, signed up.

But it’s been downhill for labor ever since. Eventually most communist countries fell into dictatorship while the brilliant US regulatory model fell into decay. In Europe the joys of that regulation have been more cherished, but even they are now succumbing to the blandishments of cheap immigrants and still cheaper “free trade.” In this country those temptations to demean workers have been bolstered by lobbyists, campaign contributions, and looming deficits. These have conspired to drain enforcement efforts and to sap the otherwise benevolent ardor of federal and state governments.

In Connecticut one of the biggest labor scams is for state and local governments and big companies to subcontract routine work to smaller companies. These present a challenge for overworked inspectors. Wages disappear off the books, withholdings dry up, benefits shrink, safety equipment and procedures erode, documentation develops gaps, and complaint procedures are ignored. Protections for union organizers too are often honored in the breach, and bosses of many subcontracting companies feel free to ridicule them.

Elsewhere a Nutmeg labor battle of titans rages at Foxwoods. Though not the worst of employers, the Pequots fought tooth and nail against the organizing of their card dealers. Miraculously the dealers won, and now further employee categories are feeling their oats. The Native Americans though, much like other employers, have still not softened their stance. Thus every separate organizing drive remains a fight to the death.

Here in Norwalk there is a daily pickup point for foreign manual workers whose documents may not bear close scrutiny. Though often treated ill, the very presence of such immigrants undercuts the bargaining power of local workers who used to get steady employment out of those same mingy jobs. Nor are such immigrants likely to seek out hard-to-find enforcement authorities when they are swindled out of a day’s pay or injured on the job.

Even middle class toilers now find that traditional promises of health care, retirement accounts, and job stability often turn to fairy gold. Mergers, divestments, corporate moves, bankruptcies, takeovers, and outsourcing can morph steady jobs into sudden demotion or unemployment. Amazingly, even hedge funds are now closing down.

In short, labor isn’t worth much anymore. Land and capital are where the profits lie, or at least they did until lately. Jobs suffer from cutthroat competition, and regulatory enforcement suffers from political maneuvering. To make matters worse, the major media have now crawled cozily into bed with big business. Thus unless there is a strike, the daily depredations of labor rarely catch ink or airtime.

Will a new administration restore enforcement of civilized employer behavior? Don’t count on it. The heart may be willing but the budget is weak and the lobbyists are strong. Bill Clinton was no savior of workers and Barack Obama remains coy. John McCain, worse yet, is smug. Better keep on organizing!

(Columnist William A. Collins is a former state representative and a former mayor of Norwalk.)