The basics behind the union, the organization of workers to fight for better conditions, will always be valid under capitalism. Businesses are driven by profits and they will try everything to maximize them, including, if possible, stepping further on workers.
Rather than putting the blame on those who are the root of the problem, that is, the people who own the businesses and who have the real power to hire and fire, the writer in Eliminate unions to save Michigan (SN 10/1) puts the blame on workers who have absolutely no voice concerning the policies of these businesses except the one they manifest through unions.
The economy is damaged when capitalists’ profits go down simply because they own the economy themselves. The economy shouldn’t be under the tight control of a few, it should be controlled by everyone involved in it. Situations where capitalists have to “pay out of pocket” to save the main economic sectors shouldn’t exist in the first place because they shouldn’t be able to profit that much from them. After all, it is not the CEOs and board directors who do much of the work and the production — it is the workers themselves.
The real solution is not to eliminate unions in Michigan, it is, rather, to extend union membership to every worker, skilled and unskilled, in order for them to be able to struggle more effectively for what should be truly theirs. The ruling class offer us only false solutions, for the real solution conflicts with their true interests.
Amir Ouyed
mechanical engineering freshman and member of the Young Democratic Socialists
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