In truth, any business or industry that doesn't support labor is missing the point. Union workers are solid members of a community's social structure. Union workers serve on advisory boards and civic organizations. They pay their taxes and support public education. They pay their hospital bills when others can't. Union workers are loyal to the Mom-'n'-Pop businesses. Unions are partners in the community, serving to improve the condition of our neighborhoods and our neighbors.
Union members make significantly more money on average than non-union workers. Union women are far more likely to receive equal pay than non-union women.
Montana unions were also the primary backers of a minimum wage increase that affected 25,000 citizens last January. This effort was supported by more than
70 percent of the voting public and recognized by many as critical to our economy.
Workers who have insurance maintain better health than those who don't. Only 49 percent of non-union workers are participating in medical care benefit programs, compared to 80 percent of union workers.
Unions support programs that offer health coverage for children. By doing so, we're also assisting the medical community achieve financial stability and growth. We want to go one step further by supporting universal health care: a program that would give every man, woman and child access to affordable health care and promote a strong future for the hospitals and clinics that provide that care.
In Montana, only 47 percent of non-union workers have pension plans, compared with 80 percent of union workers. The majority of non-union pension plans are unsecured. Most union workers have federally guaranteed benefit amounts. As elderly adults, these union members will be more financially secure than their non-union counterparts.
These union retirees are volunteers at church and at community centers. They give to local charities. They understand that being “union” means being “united,” and once they move past workplace unity, they experience social unity - the recognition that we're all in this together.
Union workers enjoy greater job safety. Many unions run training facilities that provide comprehensive OSHA training. Non-union workers have few opportunities to learn work safety measures. Training reduces lost work time, medical bills, disability and death.
Job safety means lower workers compensation rates, which is good for business. Any medical professional involved in billing knows that there are struggles with receiving payment for services rendered under a work comp injury or illness. Unions support the improvement of these laws and are proud that the safety practices they teach reduce accidents.
Job safety and worker health are key elements in achieving greater productivity. A study published in the Stanford Business Magazine found that five of the seven elements that exist in the most productive workplaces are found in the union contract. The remaining two elements were a matter of management design. When Montana businesses are more productive, they're more profitable. That success fuels the health of our economy.
Union workers are socially active and understand the power of the dollar. Unions place a high value on supporting the businesses that hold the same social values as they do. Union workers buy American-made products, and they maintain loyalty to main street merchants.
Union workers, from grocery clerks to university professors, are the center of our social fiber. Of course union workers are offended by the letter Mr. Mix of the Right to Work Foundation in Virginia wrote, telling us how to do things in Montana. However, business owners, hospitals and clinics, union insurance carriers, etc. should have been calling me. They should have been equally offended at the idea of undermining our economy by failing to recognize the value of union labor within it.
Jim McGarvey is executive secretary of the Montana AFL-CIO.
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