What does union brotherhood mean to you?

To some it means looking at the big picture. As individuals we stand alone against the machine. As a union of individuals we gain strength in numbers. It’s a lot harder to crush the group than the individual.

Experienced management is well aware of this fact. That’s why the wealthy have been fighting to crush unions since the industrial revolution. In the U.S. today only around 7.5% of the workers are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, the lowest percentage in a century. In Western Europe approximately 80% of the workers are currently covered by collective bargaining agreements.

It seems that we Americans have chosen to be a nation of individuals. The attitude of “as long as I have mine” is undermining our very way of life. Millions of Americans are being driven out of the middle class while multinational corporations grow richer, CEO’s laugh all the way to the bank, and the richest 1% grow even richer.

While it would be easy to blame the unions, corporations, politicians, etc. we have no one to blame but ourselves. It is much easier to stand in the background mumbling under your breath about how you have been wronged, than to stand up and take a personal risk.

The brave men that formed the labor unions in this country suffered great personal suffering and humiliation. It saddens and disillusions me to see that so many workers today cannot even write and sign a simple statement that would help to right a great wrong. It is like spitting on the graves of our brave union forefathers.

I’ve been a proud member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 58 for 21 years. We have some of the best electricians in the country, unfortunately we also have many that just want a free ride.