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Assault on Workers' Rights Threatens Democracy
Democracy and workers' rights go hand in hand in a way Europeans understand far better than most Americans, CWA President Larry Cohen told an audience today at the Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C.
"Only 7.8 percent of American workers have collective bargaining rights. That is the lowest of any industrial democracy," Cohen said, speaking on an international panel about labor. The conference was sponsored by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, a private institute that promotes social democracy.
Meanwhile, Cohen said top American executives negotiate salary and benefit packages so exorbitant they stun many European executives, who wonder why anyone deserves or needs that much compensation.
"It's a race to the bottom, except for those at the top," Cohen said, warning that many such aspects of the American business model may well find their way to Europe, unless public policy remains strong enough to protect workers and consumers.
Cohen said businesses in the United States link public policy with regulation, but, in fact, policies can set goals for the public good that benefit everyone. He noted, for instance, how policies set by Japan and Sweden are ensuring that all communities in those countries will soon have access to high-speed Internet.
"Whether in airlines, in telecommunications, in health care, you don't abandon public policy," he said, lamenting that that's exactly what the United States has done.
He noted that labor has been central to progressive democracy in the United States, describing how it was unions that first negotiated health care for workers, among other benefits. From union members, the trend spread to other private employers and then to public sector workers.
"Since then, we face the extinction of bargaining rights in every single industry," he said, emphasizing that the right to join unions in the United States exists only on paper as employers threaten and fire union supporters with near impunity. "For many workers, it's a choice between your career or your ability to join an organization of your choosing."
Still, Cohen said he's hopeful, and inspired by the courage of workers around the world who are fighting for and winning rights at work. "You don't have to be among the corporate elite, the wealthy, to have a voice at work," he said, praising the global union activists. "It's their world, too. No matter how much they've been knocked down, they stand up."
"Only 7.8 percent of American workers have collective bargaining rights. That is the lowest of any industrial democracy," Cohen said, speaking on an international panel about labor. The conference was sponsored by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, a private institute that promotes social democracy.
Meanwhile, Cohen said top American executives negotiate salary and benefit packages so exorbitant they stun many European executives, who wonder why anyone deserves or needs that much compensation.
"It's a race to the bottom, except for those at the top," Cohen said, warning that many such aspects of the American business model may well find their way to Europe, unless public policy remains strong enough to protect workers and consumers.
Cohen said businesses in the United States link public policy with regulation, but, in fact, policies can set goals for the public good that benefit everyone. He noted, for instance, how policies set by Japan and Sweden are ensuring that all communities in those countries will soon have access to high-speed Internet.
"Whether in airlines, in telecommunications, in health care, you don't abandon public policy," he said, lamenting that that's exactly what the United States has done.
He noted that labor has been central to progressive democracy in the United States, describing how it was unions that first negotiated health care for workers, among other benefits. From union members, the trend spread to other private employers and then to public sector workers.
"Since then, we face the extinction of bargaining rights in every single industry," he said, emphasizing that the right to join unions in the United States exists only on paper as employers threaten and fire union supporters with near impunity. "For many workers, it's a choice between your career or your ability to join an organization of your choosing."
Still, Cohen said he's hopeful, and inspired by the courage of workers around the world who are fighting for and winning rights at work. "You don't have to be among the corporate elite, the wealthy, to have a voice at work," he said, praising the global union activists. "It's their world, too. No matter how much they've been knocked down, they stand up."