When FDR became president he implemented a policy of boosting the power of the labor movement - the fruits of this policy allowed Americans to have a rising standard of living for the following decades.
At a time when a very small proportion of the workforce had a college education, the practice of limiting union membership to those who did not, was insignificant. Today a significant percentage of college graduates are not in management positions and could greatly benefit from union membership.
Unions have been the most effective agents for insuring that workers get their fair share of profits. Since the 1970's America has become much more productive, but wages have failed to keep pace. We need more unions, current unions need more members, lawmakers need to be more supportive of unions. In order to achieve these goals, unions need an agressive plan - that includes specific demands, outreach, publicity, and actions.
With the writers strike I have seen a lot of talk here about what a strike means, what a scab is, and basically what (if anything) we should be doing to help the labor movement. I try to be a good person, and I do what I can to support stiking workers, but like most things my contribution alone doesn't amount to a hill of beans. What this country desperately needs is a significant boost in Labor Power. Labor Unions are just like other groups when it comes to power, it can be measured in: membership, money, connections, demand for our services, goodwill, PR, outreach, discipline, organization, etc. Union membership (as a % of workers) has been on the decline, and while it is well known that this hinders collective bargaining we haven't yet found the key to reversing this trend. Household incomes have remained stagnant for the past three decades, so it naturally follows that Unions are not in a very strong position financially. Currently I'm not optimistic about labor's connections with the rich and powerful (I am hopeful that a new emphasis on small donor may change this). Personally this administration makes me ill, but I have been surprised that the unemployment rate has remained fairly low these past 7 years. If we can create a more robust economy we can increase demand for labor and increase labor power (and wages too). I don't know what Labor is trying to do when it comes to shaping a message and getting that message out, but whatever it is it's not working. We need a much more aggressive campaign, I'm trying to remember the last labor message I saw that didn't just go to Union members (nope can't remember it). I can feel my Union becoming more disciplined as the attacks upon us cut closer to the bone. I've heard that Union households are voting at a higher rate (which is good). I believe when you are serious about a problem you have to attack it from all sides. As always tell me what you think, let me know what I left out, and as Thomas Jefferson might say Pursue Happiness.