Workers can thank unions for Labor Day, among other things

By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer

If you're planning to enjoy a paid holiday Monday, thank the labor unions. They made it possible.

DEIRDRE EITEL/CHRONICLE Chase Martin, an apprentice Union Carpenter, welds a handrail for Springhill School Friday to help bring the school into compliance for wheelchair accessibility. “Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievement of American workers,” the U.S. Department of Labor says on its Web Page.

While there's some dispute over whether the idea arose in the carpenters or machinists union, the idea of a working man's holiday started in the New York City area in 1882, spread across the country and morphed into a national holiday in 1894.

Its creation is a testament to the clout of organized labor, muscle that kept growing through the 1950s. However, unions have been shrinking for decades. In 1983, 20.1 percent of employed Americans belonged to unions, according to the Labor Department. In 2006, the total was 12.5 percent.

“They do not have the clout they used to,” said Pat Williams, a former Democratic Montana Congressman, a union member and a fellow at the University of Montana's Center for the Rocky Mountain West.

He said he worked closely with unions during his political career.

“I've benefited from them, I've been ticked off by them - the whole gamut,” said Williams, who served nine terms in the U.S. House.

Unions have grown smaller, but have changed in other ways over the decades. The stereotypical auto worker, truck driver or iron worker has in many cases been replaced by a white-collar worker employed in some level of government.

The Montana Education Association/American Federation of Teachers, for example, makes up nearly half of the 33,000-member Montana AFL/CIO, said Executive Secretary Jim McGarvey.

People working in government, including policemen, firefighters, letter carriers and more, are five times as likely to belong to a union as someone employed in private industry.

Nationwide, 36 percent of government workers belong to unions, compared to 7 percent of those in private industry.

Williams attributed union losses in private industry partly to the mechanization of industries like logging, mining and manufacturing.

“They don't hire as many people,” he said. “They buy machines.”

'Savvied up'

But the labor movement caused some of its own problems, Williams said.

“Labor went through some hard times,” he said. “Part of it was their own fault because they were fighting for gains they'd already won, like weekends.”

Now, Williams said, unions have “savvied up” and are focusing on “the desires of the middle class: good schools, job training, affordable college, the environment, health insurance and solid pensions.”

McGarvey agreed. “Smart employers want people who show up for work and are trained in their field." And that fits his description of a union member.

In return, workers want a decent wage, health insurance for themselves and their families, a pension, paid vacations and a safe place to work.

When both sides get what they want, it helps create stable, livable communities, he said, adding that unions are often misunderstood.

“A lot of people who don't know about unions don't like unions,” he said. “Sometimes, we're not our best public relations agents.”

Actively recruiting

“Labor has definitely gone through its ups and downs,” said Mary Alice McMurry, the representative of the Carpenters Union in Bozeman.

Members slacked off on organizing and recruiting, she said, and for a time they perceived themselves as “exclusive.”

But she and other union officials say there's lots of room for growth in Montana, where a robust economy and low unemployment add power to the workers' voice.

Union membership grew by 6,000 people in the state last year, and McGarvey wants to see that number keep growing.

Because there isn't much room for further expansion among public employees, the focus is shifting again to skilled trades in the private sector, McGarvey said.

Unions are offering more opportunities for training, he said, to provide better employees. They're focusing on the emerging economic sector of giant cleanup projects, like the Clark Fork River superfund site near Missoula. They're also hopeful about Gov. Brian Schweitzer's plans for clean coal projects in Eastern Montana.

In Bozeman, where unions have never been a major presence, the old Labor Temple on East Mendenhall is being renovated and all five of its offices are now rented to local unions and to the Democratic Party, long a close ally of organized labor.

The cinder-block building had fallen into such disrepair that it was barely usable, McMurray said, but it's looking spiffy now, there's activity again and she's actively recruiting new members.

Right ingredients

With a strong economy and Democrats in major political offices, McGarvey said he sees a bright future for the union movement. Last year, 500 unions across the state negotiated 800 contracts, albeit with little fanfare.

“The background for union organizing is better now than it has been in Montana in my lifetime,” McGarvey said

Organized labor means a stronger middle class and healthier communities, Williams said.

“A strong labor movement is good for Montana and the country,” Williams said. “They're the people that brought you the holiday.”