Labor Voices

Commentary: Honor King by making history

Arlene Holt Baker

Every now and then, history seems to fall into place. But the truth is, history doesn't just happen on its own.

As we gather this coming week to honor the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and welcome Barack Obama to the Oval Office, we should remember how these men were able to accomplish so much.

Many young people aren't familiar with the Poor People's Campaign that King launched in 1968 as a second phase of the civil rights movement. He felt civil rights could not be truly secured unless working people had the power to organize themselves into a movement for economic justice. What did it matter if you won the right to sit at a lunch counter, but couldn't afford the lunch?

Forty years later, as I watched our nation's first African-American president claim victory on Election Night, it was hard to miss the reflection of King's vision. Obama couldn't have done it without the grassroots organizing that formed the cornerstone of his campaign. But he also made one point very clear -- that his political triumph was only an opportunity for change -- not the change itself.

We've got our work cut out for us. Millions of working families are struggling to cope with the uncertainties of this economic crisis. The numbers alone are stunning.

Last year, more than 2.5 million Americans lost their jobs, and millions more are at risk in the coming months. Home foreclosures are at an all-time high.

Our economy may be running a fever right now, but it's been sick for a while. For the last 25 years, real wages (adjusted for inflation) have fallen, even though working people's productivity has soared. Families have struggled to maintain their living standards through credit cards and loans.

Meanwhile, corporate greed took away our health care, our pensions and our good-paying jobs. Between an increasingly unregulated Wall Street and a debt-driven economy, it was only a matter of time before things began to spiral out of control.

These systemic injustices play out every day in workplaces. Too often, people are denied the right to have a voice in decisions that directly affect their own livelihoods. Working people know that the power to bargain collectively is the surest way to secure livable wages, high-quality health care and a stable retirement.

But when workers try to form a union, they are routinely harassed and intimidated by their bosses. Recent Cornell University research shows that in one out of four union election campaigns, at least one worker is fired for supporting the union. Labor law is powerless to help them.

That's why Obama has pledged to sign the Employee Free Choice Act -- a critical piece of legislation that would restore the right of workers to decide how to form a union and bargain for a better life. Instead of being forced to go through a lengthy balloting process, workers will have another choice -- to form a union when a simple majority signs authorization cards.

In fact, majority sign-up isn't new. More than 500,000 workers have organized unions using the less-divisive majority sign-up process at companies like AT&T since 2003, but only when the company allowed it.

The Employee Free Choice Act would give workers the power to choose which method they want to use in forming a union. It would also strengthen penalties for companies that violate their workers' rights.

No economic recovery plan will succeed if workers continue to face unregulated corporate power at work. New findings from Hart Research Associates reinforce the fact that an overwhelming majority of Americans -- more than 78 percent -- favor legislation that will make it easier to organize unions.

In short, Americans want to have more democracy in the workplace. If we're serious about saving the middle class, we need to ensure workers have the freedom to take a seat at the bargaining table.

So as we pause to commemorate King's life and prepare to inaugurate Obama's presidency, let's keep in mind how these men have made history. It has taken nothing less than millions of ordinary people, working together in solidarity, to achieve a better future. As the winds of change blow anew across our political landscape, working people are more than ready to stand up and make history yet again.

Arlene Holt Baker is the executive vice president of the American Federation of Labor -- Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and the highest-ranking African-American in the labor movement. E-mail comments to letters@detnews.com.