United States work stoppages and organized labor activity in 2023 are reaching a level not seen in decades, as hundreds of thousands of workers across the country take to the picket line. Meanwhile, a dysfunctional federal government narrowly avoids yet another shutdown as the country careens toward a polarization-induced catastrophe. Could unions be the solution needed to save American democracy?
Things are bad, and they’re getting worse
It should come as little surprise to anyone even slightly engaged in observing American politics that this country is deeply, bitterly, debilitatingly polarized. In fact, research has shown that the American public is the most polarized it has been in over twenty years, and it shows no signs of depolarizing any time soon. Similarly, Congress is more polarized now than it has been in the past 5 decades. This seemingly unbridgeable divide has numerous consequences. Most recently, uncompromising partisanship in Congress led to the removal of the Speaker of the House from office, a first in American history, and almost led to a government shutdown that was only narrowly averted. One does not have to think very far back in time to remember any number of other incidents in American politics resulting from extreme polarization, a trend perhaps most exemplified by the attacks on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Polarization isn’t just a threat at the governmental level. Crime data collected from (admittedly flawed) police reporting indicates that hate crimes are at their highest this century, and politically motivated mass shootings have become a regularity.
Even more concerning than the current heights of polarization are what they might spell for the future of this country. Researcher Rachel Kleinfeld suggests in her piece “Polarization, Democracy, and Political Violence in the United States: What the Research Says” that fear of threats to democracy from the other side of the political spectrum is increasing tolerance for anti-democratic behavior from politicians on both sides. If polarization continues to fuel this trend and anti-democratic behavior from politicians rises in frequency and intensity, she troublingly predicts that the U.S. could reach a crisis of inclusion similar to what it experienced under Jim Crow. Of principal concern then to anyone interested in avoiding that dystopic vision of the future is how to reduce polarization and avert democratic catastrophe.
What is to be done?
Kleinfeld’s conception of America’s potential future, linking the currently predominant style of polarized advocacy to a democratic doomsday scenario, is a bleak one. However, things are not without hope. She posits an alternative: “Instead, intense mobilization efforts built around a positive future vision are needed to galvanize voters without exacerbating antidemocratic attitudes.” What we need is organization around something other than just slowing down the rate of decline, something more radical than just going back to brunch, something that motivates cooperation and collective action towards a shared goal despite political differences. What we need is more labor unions.
Throughout this country’s history, unions have demonstrated themselves to be a force for progress. We have unions to thank for the weekend and the 8-hour work day, for getting child labor banned, and so much more. But what makes them so necessary in the fight against polarization today is that they are organized around a cross cutting cleavage: class. People of all political perspectives, genders, ethnicities, sexualities, religions, and creeds are workers. As members of the working class, they have common material interests, even if they’re extremely polarized. What a union does is organize them around that shared interest despite their differences and enable them to work towards common goals, like better pay and benefits. And as research and the slew of headlines this past year both prove, unions can achieve those goals very effectively. Kleinfeld suggests that the specific kind of organizing needed to reduce affective polarization is “pluralistic work that coordinates groups to act on shared goals, despite other differences of opinion.” What is a union if not exactly that? Through collective bargaining, disparate and polarized groups work together towards achieving prosperity that they can share in, prosperity denied to them by a political elite whose commitment to prioritizing the rich crosses party lines.
Some may argue that unions aren’t enough, or that the process of increasing union density is too slow to avert disaster. The problems facing the world, they say,- rising fascism across the globe, dwindling resources, and an encroaching climate apocalypse to name a few- are impossibly large, lovecraftian in their incomprehensible scale and the abject horror they induce. And it’s true, to an extent. Your local Starbucks unionizing won’t singlehandedly stop global warming. But it is a start. History has proven unions’ ability to pressure the government into making serious changes. What if instead of your local Starbucks, it was every Starbucks? What if it was every coffee shop? What if it was the entire workforce? Allow yourself to imagine, just for a moment, the kind of progress that could be achieved by an organized working class pressuring their representatives with the credible threat of a general strike behind them. Unattainable and pie-in-the-sky as that may feel today, it is a political reality that can be made manifest with specific, tangible steps. Perhaps it will never come to pass, but struggling to create a better world has to be more worthwhile than resigning ourselves to the end of democracy. In the immortal words of Ralph Chaplin, is there anything left to us but to organize and fight?
I find myself deeply intrigued by the potential role of labor unions in mitigating the current political polarization in America and their capacity to safeguard democracy. Your argument, which centers on the unifying power of unions across diverse social and political groups, is compelling, especially given the alarming levels of division we’re witnessing today and the consequent risks to democratic stability. However, there are aspects I believe could further strengthen this argument. First, I think it’s crucial to consider how unions are adapting to the changing dynamics of the workforce, particularly in light of technological advancements and the rise of the gig economy. This exploration is necessary to assess the relevance and effectiveness of unions in today’s labor market, which is increasingly varied and rapidly evolving. Such an analysis would provide a clearer picture of the potential of unions in contemporary settings, not just in historical contexts. Moreover, while you highlight the unifying potential of unions, I feel it’s important to address some of the challenges and criticisms they face. For instance, an exploration of instances where unions may have been perceived as divisive or politically biased could offer a more balanced view of their role in a polarized landscape. This would also give us a chance to delve into how unions might overcome these perceptions to effectively function as instruments of depolarization. A comparative analysis with other countries where unions have significantly influenced political or social movements could also add valuable depth to this discussion. Such a comparison might reveal the conditions under which unions contribute positively to democratic health and the factors that might limit their effectiveness. By looking at global examples, we can better understand the nuances and complexities of labor movements in relation to political identities and democratic resilience. For instance, in the United States, labor unions have historically played a pivotal role in advocating for workers’ rights and influencing social policy. However, the landscape for American labor unions has evolved significantly in recent decades. A notable decline in union membership has occurred, influenced by legislative changes and a shift in the economy towards service-oriented and gig sectors. These unions often confront challenges in bridging political and ideological divides, a task made more difficult by the current highly polarized political climate. Despite these hurdles as seen in your blog, there has been a recent resurgence in union activities. This resurgence suggests a potential revival in the role of unions in shaping political discourse and policy within the United States. Contrastingly, Germany presents a different scenario with its robust labor union presence and a unique system of ‘co-determination,’ which allows worker representation on company boards. This approach favors a more collaborative relationship among employers, employees, and the government, contributing significantly to political stability and economic success in the country. German unions are generally less affected by political polarization and are more integrated into the broader socio-political fabric. They focus more on consensus-building rather than on confrontation. This German model showcases how strong unions can effectively contribute to economic prosperity and social cohesion, potentially serving as a mitigating force against political polarization.
Hi Drew. I think this was an incredible and very unique post. I especially loved your final paragraph and the hope it brought for the possibility of cohesive working class mobilization. I also thought that your analysis of labor unions as collectives of people of all races, genders, political perspectives, etc. to be very important. Liberation of the working class is undoubtedly a “positive future vision” around which many Americans can organize in order to slow the rate of democratic decline. I think that we have seen cases of individuals with opposing political and social views uniting behind a common goal, even in cases of extreme disagreement. (The Rainbow Coalition for example). However, I do wonder how possible it would be to reach this point when many political and economic elites are working to prevent class consciousness and mobilization, whether by selling the myth of meritocracy or by union busting (in the Starbucks case for example.) But overall, I think that this argument of organized labor possibly being a great power in protecting democracy is very unique and provides a lot of hope for the future of American politics.
Hi Drew,
I saw the preview of this post and was immediately drawn to it. The idea of using mobalized unions to organize citizens and hopefully kickstart our democracy is one I hadn’t thought of previously. The influence of unions in the US is obviously undeniable, but linking them to a potential way of salvaging our democracy is incredibly interesting. Labor and work has been a highly talked about and contested issue in the US, especially since the pandemic, and in retrospect seems like the perfect issue to depolarize the American public. Workers rights violations have a long history of mass protest and has often led to change being implimented very fast compared to normal reforms/legislation. Due to the fact that almost all Americans have comparable viewpoints on labor rights and the class issues seen in the United States, this would be a plausible way to mobalize a vast majority of the American populous. The main issue here, in my opinion, is that the average laborer in the country doesn’t beleive themselves to be powerful enough to incite change. You touched upon this with your Starbucks example, but I imagine it’d be difficult to start the organization and mobilization of more unions. Once they are organized and start to make waves, it wouldn’t surprise me to see it snowball into something capabe of massive change. I just don’t know where we’d start. Either way thanks for sharing your insights, I will definatly be changing the way I view the relationship between the workforce and the government