There is a Lot of Noise out There. Will Unions Engage or Merely Echo? By John Hendrie
As we lead up to these mid-term elections in the United States, no one can deny the noise level, the clamor, the angst and the anger of the people. We also see this abroad, where changes in social contracts have exploded into protests and dramatic governmental 'take-backs'. Consider the UK and France.
What a landscape for organizing. I hope someone is paying attention, for the current civil unrest and confrontation plays right into Organized Labor’s attraction for many – let us take care of you and represent your interests. Many more of us now fall into that trough of uncertainty, seeking relief.
Certainly, one group which has captured the spirit of the debate and mood of the country is the Tea Party. Say what you might, they have energized the populace, given voice to the unrest, promoting change and rescue from a government run amok. Of course, that is only one slant with a lot of splinters (prickly, one might say). However, the Tea Party is now a force to be reckoned with.
As an observation, I am not sure that the Tea Party and their energies represent all the constituencies out there, demographically. It looks pretty homogenized. But, put the template of Union membership on this vigorous entity and you have a major engine for change. If savvy Organizers can capture the fear and insecurity, they can redirect this general disgust to the “bosses” and your businesses. They can concentrate on old challenges like Hyatt or Destination cities but also reach out to audiences they have ignored for years, such as Fast Food companies, like Jimmy John’s Sandwiches. It could be “Open Season”.
The typical profile for Union Organizing used to be pretty straightforward: the disenfranchised, normally those from other cultures, primarily women and the less educated. I submit the potential target audience is much larger and even more diverse, no longer focused on the minority but rather the mainstream. Anxiety crosses all boundaries and levels of society. We are all feeling a bit disenfranchised. Just a heads-up! It may be a good time for an Employee Attitude Survey to test the waters.
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