The Labor Day holiday, along with the United Parcel Service strike in August, are causing debates about the future of organized labor.

Organized labor has served a useful purpose in American society. Unionization during the latter stages in the Industrial Revolution provided a means for workers to air their grievances and to maintain their rights.

Even in today’s increasingly democratic workplace, the need for unions in some sectors of the workplace remains evident.

For instance, about four years ago members of the United Rubber Workers local 310 went on strike against Bridgestone/Firestone at its plant in Des Moines. They were striking to keep the company from reducing wages and benefits.

Unfortunately, the Japanese-owned company didn’t have any intention of bargaining in good faith.

After only a couple of weeks, replacement workers were hired, and about a year later all striking workers were handed pink slips. Finally, in 1996, the strike was settled and all the strikers went back to work.

Recently though, unions in some industries have gone too far in demanding concessions from their employers.

The most obvious example was the UPS strike in August. Teamsters union members went on strike to protest the practice of hiring part-time instead of full-time workers, and to keep the employee pension in the Teamster’s hands.

Unfortunately, the union omitted some important information.

When the Teamsters unionized UPS, they told the company that the full-time workers could receive more money and benefits if they reduced wages for the part-time workers.

With the recent increase in costs for the company, they had no choice but to hire part-time workers; the Teamsters had put the company in this situation and now were asking UPS to hire more full-time employees.

The union also failed to mention its suspicious record in handling employee pensions.

During the late ’60s and early ’70s, the Teamsters made loans from their Central States Pension Fund to finance the construction of mafia-operated casinos in Las Vegas.

These shady deals ultimately resulted in numerous convictions, and some associated with the deals were even killed in mob hits ordered by the mafia bosses in Kansas City. Many of you probably have heard this story; the movie “Casino” was based on it.

The Teamsters also are being faced with rapidly declining membership, caused by the deregulation of federal transportation laws.

The swelling ranks of independent truck drivers have no need to unionize, and the Teamsters needed a way to publicize their union. The UPS strike accomplished just that.

Now, Teamsters’ president Ron Carey is under investigation for funneling union dues into his re-election campaign. The Teamsters are certainly not as righteous as they would have you think.

Carey isn’t the only person in organized labor to use union dues for political purposes.

The AFL-CIO, the parent organization of most unions, raised member dues and spent about $25 million during the 1996 election season to run radio and television ads endorsing mostly Democratic candidates.

Organized labor did this despite the fact that the majority of labor members are NOT Democrats.

Other examples of unions overstepping their bounds are easy to find. Earlier this year, a strike by American Airlines’ pilots was stopped by President Clinton.

The pilots were going on strike to protest the kinds of aircraft American was using on certain routes. The strike would have crippled the the airline transportation system for who knows how long.

These pilots are unionized, though most make over $75,000 a year and some of the more senior captains make almost $150,000 a year!

The fact is that many unions (like this one) have trouble proving their need in certain industries.

For example, how many of you remember the Writers Guild strike of 1987? Television shows like the “Tonight Show” and “Late Night with David Letterman” were forced to air reruns while their writers went out on strike.

Many of these union members make more money than any of us will in our entire lives, yet, on average, work much less than you or me.

Would it surprise you that actors in Hollywood are unionized also?

That’s right. Most of your favorite actors and actresses, though they make millions per year, belong to the Screen Actors Guild.

As long as we are going to celebrate Labor Day, we need to remember who the holiday is intended for: the American worker.

It wasn’t intended for someone who makes $100,000 and holds a union card, but for those who have chosen to work in difficult but satisfying jobs to support their families.

True, there are many cases where businesses trample the rights of the worker, but there are just as many cases where unions ask too much of the company.

Don’t be swayed too much by what the unions said yesterday; just know that Labor Day was made a holiday to celebrate the worker, not the worker’s union.

Rob Zeis is a senior in finance from Des Moines.