Dr. Forbush Thinks

In our modern age the common worker no longer does as much manual labor as he once did. But at the turn of the century workers were hired for their physical skills and power rather than their reasoning or brain power. The basic structure of any company was to hire manual labor for the cheapest wage to do the most amount of work. By exploiting this structure corporations could demand that workers worked for low wages and long hours. The only choice a worker had was to quit if he felt exploited. However, a man with a family held his responsibility to his family in such high esteem that quitting wasn’t a real option. In addition, changing jobs was considered a sign of a poor employee and word got around to all potential employers leave the man jobless.

During the beginning of the twentieth century the power of unity gradually showed it’s face. Some workers realized that if one man quit his job it would have little effect on the employer and working conditions would not be influenced by his resignation. However, if one could persuade large numbers of workers to stay off the job the employer would be left without the labor he needed to accomplish the goal of the company.

Organized strikes began to help the workers win some battles, but corporations realized that workers could not hold out forever, even if they all quit together. The wealthy company owners could outlast the workers on savings alone. In order to increase their effectiveness the organized strikes became organized unions that existed continually even in times when there weren’t any strikes. These unions collected dues to be used to organize, and to keep a strike fund to pay workers so they could hold out longer and defeat the corporations.

The unions began to realize that organization had another benefit. The workers were able to have an organized voice in government. Politicians would now listen to unions that could get information to workers and help contribute to politicians’ campaigns. In return politicians would pass laws that would protect workers from unfair practices and pass laws to make corporation responsible for worker safety. Unions were able to change the workplace in dramatic ways over the first half of the twentieth century.

Many groups realized that organization is power. Teachers, Truckers, and Manufacturing Workers were some of the largest groups that were able to organize beyond the boundary of a single company.

It is quite obvious that corporations pay higher wages because of unions. Corporations also need to spend additional money on keeping the workplace safe. Therefore, it is understandable why corporations would like to weaken the power of the unions.

California Proposition 75 is proposed to weaken the power of unions. Prop 75 proposes to curtail unions from making donations to political candidates or political parties. Since the Democratic Party is the party of the worker this law limiting political contributions would effect the Democrats in a disproportional way. Democrats would loose large amounts of campaign contributions.

We should look at this in another way. Imagine two political parties. One party supports the wealthy and the other party supports the poor. Now, as every person with any marketing experience knows, advertising boosts sales. So, the more you advertise the more people will be influenced to vote for you. The message is important, but if people never hear your message people won’t even bother to show up to vote. And, if the message is slick and flashy people will be attracted like crows to a shiny object. So, the candidate that advertises the most is bound to get the most votes. Of course there is some error, but this is still a good rule of thumb. So, if Prop 75 passes then candidates that support the worker will get less money and therefore win fewer elections on average.

Prop 75 is important for all workers even if they are not union workers. The same laws that were passed because unions wanted safety and security also effect non-union workers. Out of respect for all the workers that sacrificed through the efforts of unions please defeat proposition 75. Vote NO on California Proposition 75.




politics, California Proposition 75, California Propositions