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Midway through primary season, we approach not only the end of the Bush Administration’s reckless reign, but also the likely finale of a Republican controlled White House. Will the popular discontent that during the midterm elections denied the Republicans their legislative majority continue to gather enough steam to force a political climate change? That appears likely, since the state of affairs that has given rise to ubiquitous disaffection is not likely to change before November. The Bush administration remains wedded to a perilous set of game plans and policy options, from Iraq to New Orleans, from health care to the subprime mortgage meltdown and its ripple effects. Mobilizing and directing this tidal change so that it flows in a progressive direction will depend upon the fortitude and clarity of a host of organizations that might give voice and coherence to popular discontent. Labor, the largest and most powerful among those organizations, remains divided and/or undecided regarding some of the momentous policy issues confronting the nation, among them: immigration, health care and the environment. These policy issues will remain open well into the new presidential administration. New Labor Forum, therefore, will continue to host debate, discussion and policy proposals vital to labor’s efforts to articulate bold and viable solutions to a slew of national and global crises.
In this issue, we open with a debate regarding open borders. This stark polemic serves to crystallize some of the crucial questions surrounding immigration policy: What effect does limiting immigration flows have on international labor solidarity? What does the American empire owe to immigrant workers whose political economies it has decimated? What rights should workers have to migrate in a global economy where capital moves almost unrestrained? Would open borders help or hinder union organizing efforts? Should the government protect the jobs of current U.S. residents by restricting immigration? Would such protections, or a lack thereof, exacerbate racial and ethnic divisions among workers?
Although there is significant disagreement among economists regarding the overall economic impact of immigration, there is a gathering consensus around the fact that large scale immigration exacerbates competition over low wage jobs. But immigration is hardly the only source of the job scarcity. With roughly 16 million people currently unemployed and underemployed, the decades-old jobs crisis is one that cries out for a solution. In this issue, we offer an ambitious proposal, drawing partly on current congressional bills, to create a full employment economy-- through revitalized public investment-- with good paying jobs, not the kind of sweated work now on offer..
For nearly three quarters of a century, welfare provided a partial amelioration of the problem of unemployment and underemployment. In 1996, the Clinton Administration ushered in the bipartisan Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) intended to drastically reduce the number of welfare recipients. Understandably, this caused an uproar among progressives concerned about preserving the social safety net. Just over a decade later, we host a debate featuring opposite assessments of the impact of welfare reform on millions of former welfare recipients and their families.
Global neo-liberal reforms that have shredded social safety nets have also encouraged the growth of private equity and hedge funds that are reshaping the world economy. In the U.S. and abroad, finance, insurance and real estate corporations (commonly referred to as FIRE) hold increasing sway over national economies and operate largely outside of regulatory laws. Here, we analyze the detrimental impact of financial markets on non-financial corporations, the political economy and on workers and their trade unions. Neo-liberal policy haunts the trucking industry as well. It has led to the both the de-regulation and de-unionization of port trucking in particular with disastrous consequences for workers and communities that are examined in this issue. Finally, neoliberlism has guided the way cities suffering natural or man-made disasters, from Baghdad to New Orleans, are rebuilt or not rebuilt, a tale of greed, negligence, and militarization also depicted in this issue.
Wal-Mart, our nation’s largest employer, has, in different ways, shaped corporate business models throughout the world. Here, we look at the behemoth’s widespread avoidance of its workers compensation responsibilities. One nearly successful attempt to unionize Wal-Mart occurred when meat cutters at a Super-Center in Jacksonville, Texas signed union cards. Wal-Mart then announced it was closing its meatcutting operations in all stores in favor of prepackaged meat from companies using nonunion labor. The meatpacking industry, like port trucking, has undergone a protracted period of de-unionization and the weakening of what union power remains, a history also explored in these pages.
Increasing labor’s power, political and organizational, is the issue we take up from multiple vantage points in each issue of New Labor Forum. Here, we look at two disparate efforts to fortify organized labor. First, the increasing use of neutrality agreements by unions seeking employer non-intervention in organizing campaigns. These agreements have brought thousands of new members into the labor movement. They have also been criticized for bringing unions into partnerships with employers that diminish rank-and-file voice in the workplace and distance these unions from the new members they have recruited. Second, we examine a decade of work to resuscitate central labor councils and increase their ability to shape regional politics and economic development. Enduring successes are few, but point the way for regions that have tried and failed or have yet to try.
Also in this issue, we review five recent books on the contemporary role of religion in U.S. politics; four Discovery Channel shows exploring work and workers; and a book on work songs, examining what these songs can tell us about the historical and contemporary place of work in U.S. society. We end with two poems on the immigrant experience by award-winning contemporary poets.
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