It was inspiring to see a group of people come together to learn more about unions and the important role they play in the United States. Ohio State College Democrats hosted a panel of union leaders to talk about unions and their importance in the upcoming election. They focused on what can be done to elect democrats into office this election and why it is important to do so from a union perspective. 

The Worker Organizing Resource and Knowledge Center explains, “A labor union is a group of two or more employees who join together to advance common interests such as wages, benefits, schedules and other employment terms and conditions.” They advocate for the needs of employees to ensure they are safe, fairly compensated and so much more. The panel was composed of leaders of major unions in Ohio. They are the people who run the unions, advocate on behalf of union members, and ensure the people are being heard. 

The panel explained that Former President Trump demonized unions causing lots of people to not support them. Most people did not have a good base knowledge of what unions do from the start, so when Trump demonized unions, the only information many people had on the topic came from him.

Former President Trump antagonized unions because he is a populist who promotes the idea that he is the only real representative of the people. In What is Populism?, Muller describes populists as antipluralist meaning “…they, and they alone, represent the people”(3). This means that any other organization that represents the people is invalid. Unions represent the people and therefore threaten his power. This is why he demonized unions. He wants to ensure the people do not trust another entity to represent them so he remains in power. 

Furthermore, when pluralists are in power they attack civil society. This includes unions. Pluralists do this because civil society organizations may criticize their power, and are another organization that can threaten their power. Muller explains that for pluralists “…opposition from within civil society creates a particular moral…problem: it potentially undermines their claim to exclusive moral representation of the people.”(48). Pluralists claim to be the only true representative of the people, which cannot be true if civil society is thriving. It is not shocking that Trump would want to suppress unions. 

This is what makes the upcoming election so important. The United States cannot have a pluralist in power that will suppress any other person or organization that represents the people. Also, unions are vital to ensuring safety and equality in the workplace. This is important to ensuring people’s rights are protected and advocated for. Ensuring unions are protected by electing pro labor candidates is vital in this election. 

The union leaders focused much of their discussion on how to get democrats, and pro labor candidates more generally, elected in the upcoming election. There are a couple of ways to get these candidates elected. These candidates need to focus their campaign on subjects all citizens agree on and educate the public on the benefits of unions. 

It takes a lot of education surrounding unions to get voters in republican areas to vote democrat. After extensive education about the merits and benefits of unions, republican voters tend to switch their vote to the democratic candidates.  Democratic candidates are usually pro labor, so after seeing the benefits of a union and a pro labor candidate, they switch their vote. A major focus of the democratic campaign, according to the panelists, should be to focus on educating the public on unions. This will hopefully cause people to see the importance of unions and supporting candidates who will ensure unions thrive. 

Labor is a subject that a majority of American citizens support. In our polarized society, labor has been getting people from both sides of the aisle to agree. To get more people to support Democrats the campaign should focus on subjects a majority of people agree on. This way undecided voters see the democrats as the party that supports their ideals.

Also, union members who generally vote republican based on social issues will be more likely to vote democrat. Voters who generally vote for the pro labor candidate and would vote democrat have started to vote republican due to social issues. If the democratic party focused on subjects most citizens agree on instead of social issues, republican voters will be more likely to vote democrat. They will do this because they will no longer see social issues at the forefront. They will focus on the fact that democrats tend to be pro labor because the messaging they receive has been focused on that. 

Moreover, as a member of a union, electing a candidate that supports union will be important for them. They will be reminded of the benefits of having a pro labor candidate in power and will not focus on social issues because the information they receive will emphasize democrat’s support of unions. This is why it is important for the democratic campaign to focus on issues that everyone tends to agree on, like the economy. 

The main idea I learned in this panel discussion is that unions are a powerful tool to protect employees in American society. It is important to protect them in an election with a populist candidate who has antagonized them in the past. Focusing on education and emphasizing subjects most Americans agree on can help ensure pro labor candidates are elected. The panel was very informative, inspired me, and taught me a lot about unions and their importance in this election.