Throughout much of the later 19th and early to mid twentieth century, many, if not most, blue-collar jobs in America were unionized.
Unions became popular, particularly in industrial jobs, with large memberships of average working-class men and women who had previously suffered poor working conditions or unfair wages.
Unions not only changed the working environments of their workers and members, it brought a change across the entire American society. Even non-union workers benefited from the changes wrought by unions.
However, after World-War II, trade unions in the United States began to see a decline in membership, and today it seems that Unions can be found mostly in government jobs. That probably has a lot to do with the fact that most factory jobs have been moved overseas where such things as fair wages and work practices are of less concern.
I was raised in a non-union environment, and by the time I was of working age, generally regarded unions as unnecessary. In the mid-1970’s, jobs were plentiful, wages were high, and life was good. I used to think that Unions were just a way to make things cost more, that their time was over and done. We had legislated our way to prosperity and there was no longer a reason for unions. It never occurred to my brash young mind that the reason things were so good was because of the way Unions had impacted our working and economic life. We were living the good life because of the Unions, not in spite of them.
Today, there isn’t much of an industrial complex left in the United States. Automakers have moved operations overseas, and for those that do remain, more and more work is being done by machine. Same for Steel or just about any manufacturing job you can think of that used to exist in this country.
Today, we hear that we are primarily a service sector. The problem we are now facing as a country is that our young people are finding out that they have been fed a load of bull and that $150,000 college education that they are up to their necks in debt for now does them no good at all as they go to work for minimum wage, part-time at your local fast food restaurant or discount retailer.
It’s now 2013. $7.50 an hour, even at full time will only provide a gross paycheck of $300 a week. After taxes, the take-home on that $300 check is probably closer to $230.
The truth is that most jobs that pay minimum wage won’t be full time. Employers like Walmart or McDonalds won’t give you more than 29 hours because they don’t want to pay benefits. It’s cheaper for them to hire two or even three people at minimum wage to do the job of one full time employee. So, that $300 check is now only $210, and the take-home is more likely $170 instead of $230, and even if you have two wage-earners in the household, how can you buy gas, pay the rent, put shoes on your kid’s feet and pay off that college debt on less than $1000 a month in take-home pay? This is the reality for millions of American workers, and it doesn’t look like it is getting any better.
Looking at our future, I’m now convinced that Unions need to make a strong comeback. Employers are simply being unfair. The difference between the rich and poor is bigger now than it has been since Edwardian times and the days of the railroad and oil magnates like Rockefeller.
Some statistics now show that the top 400 earners in the U.S. have seen an income increase of nearly 400% and a nearly 40% reduction in the taxes they pay. Corporate profits are at an all time high, yet wages and benefits for your average worker are stagnate – relatively unchanged since the mid-70’s.
Wealth Distribution in the US is startling. We all know it is bad, but according to Business Insider it’s even worse than we can image. 
Only 20% of Americans own almost all of the wealth of the United States. The middle class and poor are left with wealth that is so small it doesn’t even appear in some charts.
Yes, we were raised to believe that anyone can succeed and be successful and that we should be allowed to earn whatever we can by any legal means, but I think we have come to the point were we are in danger of losing our American way of life, because of a few very greedy and very wealthy citizens.
It’s even affecting our politics. This past couple of years has seen some of the most ineffective sessions of Congress since our founding. Bi-partisanship politics is simply ruining our country, and it can be traced to the fact that many of our politicians are also among some of our most wealthy citizens, The fact that we now allow so much money to enter and influence our political system is just simply abominable.
So, I have changed. I think our young people need to organize. I think Unions need to come back and be as strong as they ever were. It’s hard for a single person to stand up for themselves when they are being treated unfairly by a large and wealthy employer, but if all the employees band together with one voice, then we already know that it works and that our entire society can be changed.
I’m well off personally. Not wealthy, but just well off. I have a job, with benefits, some savings, and I don’t have to worry about paying my bills or having enough to eat. By today’s standards, that, sadly, is enough to be “well off”.
As Thomas Jefferson said, “A government afraid of its citizens is a Democracy. Citizens afraid of government is tyranny!”