We cannot continue to believe the old lie that workers organizing for their rights and protections is against our own interests.
The South has been one of the most challenging regions in the country to unionize labor and protect workers’ rights. On April 19, however, employees at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga voted overwhelmingly to join the United Auto Workers union — a landslide win with 73% approval.
News outlets and labor organizers around Tennessee and the country lauded the union victory as the opening salvo in a new Southern labor movement. The momentum for labor unions continues to grow after several important victories in 2023. Nevertheless, it will be up to the workers themselves to decide if labor rights will be protected in the South.
Last year, labor unions in the U.S. won several significant battles for their members. The Writers Guild of America, the actor’s SAG-AFTRA union and the UAW committed themselves to high-profile and successful strikes. The UAW’s strike in particular won major concessions. Union workers at the Big Three — Ford, GM, and Stellantis — increased their wages, secured cost-of-living adjustments, and improved overtime and retirement benefits. The workers also forced the elimination of the two-tier system of wages, a ploy where some employees are denoted as “temporary workers” and receive less pay.
This success has also transpired under one of the most pro-union presidents of the past few decades. Joe Biden has consistently promoted organized labor, even becoming the first sitting president to join a picket line last fall with the UAW. He also became the first president ever to unionize his campaign staff, doing so for the upcoming 2024 election. Biden has also been endorsed by the UAW and the AFL-CIO over presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Unfortunately, conservative resistance to labor unions is still fierce. Directly before the UAW vote in Chattanooga, Gov. Bill Lee and five other Southern governors — all Republicans — issued a statement threatening a loss of jobs after a potential union victory. Tennessee and most conservative states have passed laws making them “right-to-work” and “fire-at-will” states. These anti-working-class laws damage the ability to organize and collectively bargain and allow employers to fire workers for any reason or no reason at all.
Following the successful UAW vote, Lee called the workers’ decision a “mistake” and “unwise to put your future in somebody else’s hand.” These words show the hypocrisy of wealthy Republicans and their vile fight against working-class efforts to improve working conditions. Lee is a multi-millionaire, and his company is not unionized. When a multi-millionaire advises on what’s best for the working man, it’s best to ignore it. Trusting your future to a hard-working labor organizer is much better than hoping your needs align with a comfortable CEO’s.
This wealthy hypocrisy has always been at the crux of the labor issue. Throughout American history, it has been a story of large corporations and executives putting their interests over the wages and safety of working-class individuals. When workers were suffering from unsafe conditions, abusive work hours and restrictive company towns, corporations and the wealthy always viciously fought back against reform. Whether it was from workers, unions or the government, companies contested every attempt to better the lives of employees when it conflicted with profit.
Let’s be clear: Corporations will always place profits over workers — unless they are regulated. Corporations should not be recognized under the law as individuals as they are. They do not have souls, but workers do. Labor unions play a critical role in regulating companies, ensuring that corporations don’t abuse their workers in the name of business.
If workers in the South want wage increases, cost-of-living adjustments and protections from layoffs, they must unite with unions. Labor organizers cannot perform the task alone. A union can only succeed in a workplace where workers support it. In addition, workers must use their votes for the party that supports them. The Democratic Party opposes “right-to-work” and “fire-at-will” laws and supports wage increases. They recognize that unions assist in building out the middle class. A vote for Democrats is a vote for labor.
Southern workers can continue the nationwide momentum of organized labor. Overwhelming support to organize within a workplace negates the greedy threats from corporations and management. Corporations have always argued that workers standing up for their rights and protections will harm the workers. This old lie was only made to keep production and profits up at the cost of the worker’s conditions and wages. Southern workers can secure a better life by organizing.
Companies and working-class individuals can work together and thrive. However, the power-sharing agreement has been unbalanced for far too long. Today, the South can organize and unionize to improve that.
United we bargain, divided we beg.
Walker Kinsler is a junior at UT this year studying political science and history. He can be reached at [email protected].
Columns and letters of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon’s editorial staff.
