NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS |
April 7, 2017 | PAGE 5
CULTURE
Today’s lesson: Unions matter, especially now
By Don McIntosh
Polls say young people are in-
creasingly favorable toward
unions, yet they’re increasingly
less likely to have a union in
their workplace. Maybe it’s time
for unionists to go back to
school — to give class presen-
tations about class, and about
why unions matter. That’s what
retired economics professor
Martin Hart-Landsberg pro-
posed last fall at the Portland
Rising committee of the worker
justice non-profit Portland Jobs
With Justice.
Since October, their Why
Unions Matter campaign has
garnered invitations to speak to
as many as 300 students at more
than a dozen local high school
and college classes. In each pres-
entation, Hart-Landsberg pairs
up with a local union member or
staff person: The union member
relates a personal story about the
difference the union has made in
their lives, and Hart-Landsberg
gives a PowerPoint-assisted big-
picture explanation of what’s
happening in the economy —
growing inequality. Since the
1970s, as unions have declined,
nearly all of the economic gains
from increased productivity
(Working) Class Presentation: “I knew my union had my back,” UNITE HERE Local 8 member Be Marston tells
Lewis & Clark College professor Maryann Bylander’s March 21 sociology class. Marston, a transgender bartender at
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, told a story about how her union stepped up when she faced a complaint about using
a female restroom.
have gone to the top 1 percent —
to corporations and owners of
enterprises, not to those doing
the work. Workers’ buying
power has stagnated.
So far, the campaign has de-
ployed speakers from National
Association of Letter Carriers,
UNITE HERE Local 8, Interna-
tional Longshore and Warehouse
Union Local 5, Oregon Nurses
Association, Portland Associa-
tion of Teachers, and the Indus-
trial Workers of the World. The
campaign is looking for volun-
teers from other unions, and
helps each speaker develop their
presentation.
Presenting their “Unions 101”
curriculum, the volunteer educa-
tors are starting from scratch. At
a March 21 presentation at a
Lewis & Clark College sociol-
ogy class, Hart-Landsberg asked
the class of about 40 students if
anyone knew what “right to
work” was. Not a single hand
went up. [To be fair, many union
members don’t know what it is
either. Right-to-work — a fast-
spreading threat to the union
movement — refers to a law
meant to weaken unions by ban-
ning any requirement that work-
ers pay dues.]
“People know so little about
unions,” Hart-Landsberg tells
the Labor Press. But students’ re-
action has been very positive,
Hart-Landsberg said; he’d ex-
pected to get more negative re-
actions. Presenters conclude
each class with an invitation to
sign a Jobs With Justice pledge
card, committing to take part in
five acts of solidarity over the
next year. More than 70 students
have signed them so far.
ONLINE EXTRA
Find out more about the Why Unions
Matter classroom speaking campaign
at http://jwjpdx.org/whyunionsmatter
Apprenticeship
Opening
Glaziers
The Oregon & SW Washington
Glaziers Joint Apprenticeship &
Journeyman Training Program will
be opening to accept applications
to create a pool of eligible
applicants. Applicants must be at
least 18 years old. Must apply in
person and furnish a copy of a
high school diploma and grade
transcript or GED and test scores
at time of application.
Applications will be taken
April 24 thru May 5, 2017
Monday thru Friday,
9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m.
Glaziers Training Center
Mt. Hood Community College,
Room GE 108
26000 SE Stark St., Gresham, OR
Jill Alcantar
Women and minorities encouraged to
apply; Veterans’ GI Benefits may apply
360.787.6975
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