Labor isn't a bad thing

This week's reading in Media and Culture contains an interesting case study. The results of this case study have pointed towards media coverage of many labor groups has been at least partially responsible for the drastic decrease in the percentage of American workers who are members of Labor Unions. Today, labor unions have only a shadow of the bargaining power they once held, and are likely to be unable to mount the protests and strikes they were once capable of. The news media outlets that cover these stories seem, according to Campbell, Martin and Fabos, to be reporting the stories as bad for consumers, which aligns quite nicely with what the media corporation's business goals typically are.

I think it's quite obvious that this is no coincidence. Labor unions cause 'trouble' for large corporations, who could otherwise operate mostly without interference. While it's possible to fire single employees, or to reach a small agreement with them to quiet them, or even to bully them into doing what the corporation pleases, these unions were too large to simply bully or fire, and held enough sway to get what they wanted. It's very obvious to see why corporations would want them out of the picture. Without these unions, we would eventually return to the early twentieth century, where men and women performed back breaking labor for 14 hour days with no breaks, for a wage that is now criminal. Labor unions, and by extension their members, have brought about massive social and economic reform, changing the way companies have done business for the better, and hopefully forever.

Without labor unions, corporations could make even further unprecedented profits, further fueling their lobbyists' spending power, and leading us one step closer to a corporate buyout of our democracy. As one of the few powers that has stood up to corporations, losing these unions takes one more obstacle out of the way of a corporate takeover of America as a whole. We can already see the effects they have had on our government officials, swaying national policy by spending millions of dollars a year to buy votes. Can we afford to let them have their way with their workers, too? This, again, highlights the importance of media literacy, and the need for the American people to stand up for their rights, and their freedom, to fight back against those who would rob them, and put into place someone who will fight for them.