Cartoon 663: Flip Side

A history lesson is in order.  During the early part of the 1800s American business and industry started its ascent. It was dominated by some names even familiar today. The names that still resonate are Rockefeller, Getty, J.P. Morgan, Mellon, and Carnegie. Their adversary was the cost of labor. They made certain elected officials assisted in their war on labor costs. The government became their enforcement arm in stopping unionization or breaking up strikes. However, the government enforcement partnership waned over the years after the Gilead Age. But they did win the ideological war. They cast wealth distribution and government regulation as ungodly socialism. Capitalism, particularly the lassiez-faire brand [free market], was blessed by God.

This relationship between business and industry with the government was inaugurated again with the Reagan Administration. It eviscerated organized labor as a power house in America. As a result, over the succeeding years, the compensation of labor has lagged greatly. The distribution of profitability of a business increasingly went to investors instead of being appropriately shared with workers. Where there were unions, they lacked the power to force the compensation issue in their favor. There are rare exceptions. The recent strike by the Boeing Aircraft Machinist has bought Boeing to its knees. But their leverage was more a case of timing. Boeing was losing customers from failing to deliver products on time even before the strike. The strike made things unimaginably worst for management.

America is the only developed or emerging nation that does not have a significant socialist party. It is because of the successful American propaganda machine. Socialism equates as “un-American” in the minds of the general populace. Calling something “socialistic” instantly creates a barrier to legislation or regulation.

The United Auto Workers are the last large union to still be able to sway management in an industry to share profitability. Business and Industry would like nothing better than to marginalize or kill this union. In these dire economic times people see CEOs and top executives with golden parachutes while the workers are being turned out destitute. The last thing Business and Industry wants is the UAW becoming a model for management and labor relations going forward..