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luly 18. 2012
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Labor Organizing and Civil Rights
Two movements with
historic connections
N orman H ili , and V ei . ma M lrphy H ii . i .
In the U nited States, w orker rights and civil
rights have a deep and historic connection.
W hat is slavery, after all, if not the abuse o f
w orker rights taken to its ultim ate ex trem e?
A. Philip R andolph, presiden t o f the B ro th er
hood o f Sleeping C ar Porters, recognized this
link and, as early as the 1920s, spoke p assio n
ately about the need for a black -lab o r alliance.
C ivil rights activist B ayard R ustin, R an d o lp h ’s
protégé and an adviser to M artin L u th er K ing,
Jr., jo in e d his m entor as a forceful,
early advocate for a black-labor c o a
lition.
The very title o f the fam ous 1963
“M arch on W ashington for Jobs
a n d F r e e d o m ,” c o n c e iv e d by
R andolph and organized by R ustin,
reflected their black-labor p ersp ec
tive. T w o years later, they founded
the A. Philip R andolph Institute, to
solidify the black-labor alliance.
W ith prodding from R andolph, the A F L -C IO
cam e to recognize the deep connection betw een
labor rights and civil rights. T h e civil rights
m ovem ent has m oved sim ilarly, acknow ledging
organized lab o r as by far its strongest ally. In
1961, K ing spoke to this, declaring that “N e
groes are alm ost entirely a w orking people. O ur
needs are identical w ith la b o r’s needs: d ecent
w ages, fair w orking conditions, quality ed u ca
tion and h ealthcare. T h at is w hy blacks support
la b o r’s dem ands and fight law s that curb labor.”
T hat is w hy the labor h ater and the race b aiter
is virtually alw ays a tw in-headed creature, spew
ing anti-black epithets from one m outh and an ti
labor propaganda from the other. A nd that is
w hy, at the tim e o f K in g ’s assassination in 1968,
by
he w as preparing to lead a m arch in M em phis,
T en n essee, in support o f black striking sanita
tion w orkers.
Still today, the benefits o f trade union m em
bership for A frican A m ericans, w om en and H is
pan ics are clear. A ccording to recent estim ates,
the w ages o f black union m em bers are 31 percent
h ig h er than th eir non union counterparts. T he
union w age ad vantage for w om en is 34 percent;
fo r L atin o ’s, it’s a w hopping 51 percent. T h ere
fore, the union m o v e m e n t’s decline should be o f
special concern. In the m id-1950s, about one-
third o f the w orkforce belonged to unions. T o
day the p roportion is 12 percent.
Is this decline inevitable; the unavoidable
for supporting unions, m ay not win back their
jo b s fo r years, if at all. M eanw hile, their c o
w orkers are frightened into abandoning the
unionization. The fines for union-busting are
also so m inim al that corporations have little to
lose and m uch to gain by continuing their bad
behavior.
K ahlenberg and M arvit argue that placing
the right to organize under T itle VII o f the 1964
C ivil R ights A ct offers a possible solution. T heir
proposal w ould add abridgem ent o f w o rk ers’
rights to discrim ination against individuals based
on race, gender, religion as a new protected
category. U nder the am ended C ivil R ights A ct,
pro-union w orkers could regain their jo b s w ithin
days by a federal ju d g e, and em p lo y
ers could face m ajor costs if found
guilty o f breaking the law.
An am endm ent to the Civil Rights
A ct establishing the right to o rg a
nize could not pass the current C o n
gress. But discussion around the
proposal can certainly begin now.
A nd the labor and civil rights m o v e
m ents, in their traditional b lack -la
bor-m inority coalition, can begin acting now
through cooperation w ith other m inority, reli
gious and liberal organizations.
N A A C P p re sid e n t B en jam in Je a lo u s an d
A F L -C IO p re sid e n t R ic h a rd T ru m k a h av e
e n d o rs e d th e id ea o f tre a tin g th e rig h t to
o rg a n iz e as a c iv il rig h t. M o re lead ers o f the
lib e ra l-la b o r a llia n ce sh o u ld b eg in a d v a n c in g
th is c o n c e p t w h ile a lso w o rk in g to e le c t re p
re s e n ta tiv e s, sen ato rs, an d a p re sid e n t w h o
w ill tra n s la te it in to law .
With prodding from Randolph, the AFL-CIO
came to recognize the deep connection between
labor rights and civil rights. The civil rights
movement has moved similarly, acknowledging
organized labor as by fa r its strongest ally.
result o f globalization, w ith union jo b s going to
low -w age co u n tries? A pparently not. A lthough
unio n izatio n rates have declined across m ost
d e v e lo p e d n a tio n s , n o w h e r e e ls e h a s
d eu n io n izatio n been as pro n o u n ced o r as sus
tained as in the U nited States.
F ortunately, a pro v o cativ e new rem edy has
recently been proposed.
In W hy L ab o r O rganizing Should Be a Civil
R ight, R ichard K ahlenberg and M oshe M arvit
pin p o in t the reasons for U .S. L ab o r’s decline
and o ffer a plausible solution. T hey observe
that the N ational Labor R elations Board (N LRB ),
w hich oversees m ost unionization cam paigns,
*
does not offer effectiv e rem edies fo r illegal c o r
porate retaliation against pro-union w orkers.
U nder N L R B procedures, w orkers w ho are fired
Norman Hill is president emeritus o f the A.
Philip Randolph Institute. Velma Hill, a form er
vice president o f the American Federation o f
Teachers, is also the form er civil and human
rights director fo r the Service Employees Inter
national Union.
At the Mercy of Medical Mistakes
Powerful players
operate with impunity
W illiam A . C ollins
E stim ates vary, but every y ear
an average o f 195,000 A m ericans
die from m edical errors. T hese acts
aren’t done on purpose — they are
screw -u p s, o fte n d e a lin g w ith
m edication. O th er h undreds o f
thousands are annually injured.
Surely, you say, W ashin g to n and the state
capitals m ust be w orking feverishly to sort all
this out.
W rong. T he last thing hospitals, doctors,
insurers, and pharm aceutical com p an ies w ant is
to get this m ess sorted out. T hat w ould m ean
inadequate doctors w ould lose their licenses,
inattentive hospitals w ould get bad publicity,
and insurers and Big P harm a w ould have to shell
out som e big bucks.
T o protect against such calam ities, the m ed i
cal industry has w orked out an im penetrable
defense. State licensing boards rarely discipline
by
anyone, and they m ake it painfully difficult
eith er to find out w hat actions they have taken
o r to file a com plaint.
Insurers, in their fine print, don't let victim s
sue, only arbitrate, in kangaroo settings.
D octors w on't testify against one another.
A nd in perhaps the cu test w rinkle o f all,
hospitals, w hich autopsied around h a lf their
deaths 50 years ago, now only d o five
percent. T hus m edical m istakes do indeed
get quietly buried.
O th er research, published in H ealth A f
fairs, found that one in three hospital ad m is
sions results in a m edical m istake. T he grow ing
use o f electronic m edical records should b less
edly cu t into this avalanche o f foggy p ap er data
that today receives discreet burial in office filing
cabinets. M ore prying eyes should soon get to
see the electronic variety.
O therw ise, prospects for im p rovem ent are
dim . H ealthcare in this country is, after all, largely
a b usiness venture.
C orporate o w n ersh ip o f h ospitals is sp read
ing and non-profit hospitals each day act m ore
and m ore like corporations. D octors are m ostly
entrep ren eu rs w ith payrolls to m eet and rent to
pay. Savvy groups o f them invest in specialized
clinics, fueling our nation's chronic over testing.
Big drugm akers offer incentives to doctors to
p rescribe their ow n patented brands. A nd p er
haps m ost im portantly, the bigger players retain
fleets o f lobbyists to m ake sure that no rogue
legislature cracks dow n seriously on all this
w aste and error.
T h ere's also the reality that in o ur society
doctors are hallow ed figures. A fter all, they had
to pass organic chem istry. Further, w hile the
vast m ajority is ju st out to help people, they do
rem ain hum an. T hey m ake m istakes, and som e
suffer from avarice. All seek to avoid em barrass
m ent. T hey fear law suits.
In o th er w ords, in addition to A m erica's basic
h ealthcare system being an expensive m ess, the
system s that run, m onitor, and discipline it are
also a m ess. Privilege rules and the patient is at
the m ercy o f pow erful players w ho operate w ith
im punity.
OtherWords columnist William A. Collins is
a form er state representative, and a form er
mayor o f Norwalk, Conn.
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