The United Rubber Workers began their strike against Bridgestone/Firestone a full year ago this week. Since then, the Rubber Workers have gone bankrupt, ended the strike and merged with the United Steel Workers.

But the whole story dates back much earlier than last year. For two decades now, unions have been under attack by corporate-funded endeavors like the Business Roundtable, the Reagan and Bush Administrations and currently, the Republican-controlled legislature. The successes of such endeavors in preventing labor law reform have rendered labor unions impotent in the face of corporate demands for concessions.

To begin with, corporate endeavors have succeeded in preventing legal reforms which would inflict stiffer penalties on businesses that illegally intimidate workers who attempt to form unions. Presently, corporate offenders are given less than a slap on the wrist when caught behaving in such a manner. The failure to pass legislation which would curb this intimidation is largely responsible for lower union membership rates, and thus, the decline of unions in the United States.

Hitting closer to home, corporate endeavors have also prevented the Workplace Fairness Act (S-55) from being passed. If it were not for a Republican filibuster in the U.S. Senate, Bridgestone/Firestone URW workers would not be in the situation they now find themselves. Without such legislation, the right to strike guaranteed in the Wagner Act is meaningless.

Why should those of us who are not members of unions be worried about this? The plight of unions does not really affect the rest of us. Right?

Think again. We need the support of unions just as much as unions need our support. Corporate attacks have not just weakened unions, they have also lowered the standard of living for the vast majority of workers, non-union as well as union.

Big Business would like nothing better than to convince the public to believe that unions are driving down the wages of non-union workers. Today, the wage of the average worker is less than it was two decades ago, and 18 percent of workers now receive wages below the poverty line. This sorry state of affairs is not, however, the result of microeconomic effects of unions. Rather, it is the result of the successes of corporate endeavors in: 1) bringing about the decline of unions and 2) keeping the minimum wage low.

Current minimum wage legislation was passed when Carter was in office, after which the Reagan and Bush Administrations made sure that it was not adjusted to compensate for changes in the cost of

living. It has been kept low so that businesses can profit from the

cheap labor it creates. Meanwhile, the government has been forced

to supplement the incomes of these grossly underpaid workers, which amounts to little more than yet another form of corporate welfare.

Big Business also wants the American public to believe that “Big Labor” is ramming socially harmful legislation down their throats. This overlooks the fact that corporations send more PAC money to Congress than do unions. Were it not for the presence of the AFL-CIO in Washington, House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) might very well succeed in abolishing the minimum wage altogether.

Unions and the AFL-CIO activities in Washington seek to protect, though with increasingly unsuccessful results, the rights of American workers. Achievement of their primary goals, which include raising the minimum wage and strengthening occupational safety regulations, would be beneficial for all workers.

It should be noted, however, that achievement of these goals seems a mere dream given the present political climate. What’s New In… Collective Bargaining has reported:

“Instead of mapping out plans for new progressive legislation, union lobbyists spend most of their time trying to build defenses against conservative efforts to dismantle programs and protections for workers.”

It’s time to wake up America. Stand up for the rights of union and non-union workers.

And, of course, BOYCOTT PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED BY BRIDGESTONE/FIRESTONE.

Tyler Roach is senior in English, philosophy and religious studies from Des Moines. He is also the son of a permanently replaced worker at Bridgestone/Firestone.