The Myth of Education and Why We Need Good, Old Fashion Unions

The American public has been sold a myth that if you only go to college, you will get a better job. We have built a whole infrastructure of student loans, grants, community colleges, etc. to ensure everyone gets a college degree. Study after study shows how people with college degrees earn higher average wages. At least they used to…

In his NY Times Op-Ed article, Paul Krugman argues “education isn’t the answer” to building “a society of broadly shared prosperity”. He gives some data points supporting the position best summarized by the paragraph

But there are things education can’t do. In particular, the notion that putting more kids through college can restore the middle-class society we used to have is wishful thinking. It’s no longer true that having a college degree guarantees that you’ll get a good job, and it’s becoming less true with each passing decade.

When Mr. Krugman equates ‘education’ with ‘college’, he makes the same mistake most people are guilty of.

My dad, a blue-collar construction worker, had to quit school at a young age to dig ditches by hand for the water company to pay off the family water bill. He did manual labor for the rest of his life. As long as I can remember, he would tell me to go to college so I “could get a better job”. Getting a college degree is behind many programs supporting the economically disadvantaged.

Should everyone have an equal opportunity to attend college? Absolutely! Should everyone try to get a college degree? Absolutely not!

In truth, for many the answer isn’t getting a college degree but acquiring higher levels of skill. There used to be jokes about plumbers making more than lawyers but somewhere along the way, we stopped valuing journeyman. And by journeyman, I mean someone who is actually trained in his trade and can perform it proficiently.

And the dirty, little secret is many of these tradesman were actually happy. My dad loved his work and was proud of what he did. And we were proud of him.

And another secret, my dad quit school when he was 13, never went to college, but he was educated. The International Union of Operating Engineers educated him through an apprentice program. It took him eight years to achieve the highest level and other than union dues, the education was free. In fact, he was able to earn money while going through the program because the union placed him with construction companies.

Even then, there was always tension between the construction companies and the unions as each advocated for their constituents. But, for the most part, it worked because each got what they needed. The union workers saw improving, safer work conditions, more stable wages and better benefits. The companies got a pool of skilled workers.

When he retired to Texas, a right-to-work state, my dad used to visit construction job sites and just sit and watch. He was surprised by the low wages he would hear about but he was even more surprised at the low skill level. He never could understand why it would take so long to get the job finished. Like most union men of his time, he thought they could do a better job and get it done faster. In Texas, anyone can call themselves a plumber, or carpenter or Bobcat operator whether they’ve been trained or not. But they are willing to work for lower wages which devalues the work of everyone.

A lot of people complain about shoddy workmanship but then refuse to pay more than the lowest bid. To restore the middle class, we need to rebuild trust in the average working man and restore the value we place on craftsmanship. Unions aren’t the panacea but, if they return to their roots, they can help.

The danger of Gov. Walker’s union busting tactics in Wisconsin has little to do with whether the public workers can continue collective bargaining or not. The real danger is the country continues down the path of devaluing all labor and only rewards the CEOs and other executive management because they were able to increase profits through lower labor costs.

Two of my friends viewpoints of the Wisconsin union debate. One from Kentucky says

Being from Coal mining country, I have seen some of the best and some of the worst in unions.  The safety improvements in mines would not have happened without the unions—some of their best work.

Blowing up people’s homes or killing them because they would not join the union is some of their worst.

Overall I have to support the right of everyone to have collective bargaining –if they want.”

The other

1. Never should union dues be required to be paid or taken from employee’s checks

2. Collective bargaining between two public employee groups who are receiving  taxpayer payer money and can control their pay and/or donations should never be allowed ie politicians and public union employees

And therein lies the dilemma. Instead of helping, unions became part of the problem and just another big-business. Like many businesses, the unions quest for revenue caused questionable actions as they drifted away from their roots.

Let’s remember, unions gained a foothold in the US because business workers didn’t have many rights and were taken advantage of. Unsafe working conditions and sweat shop conditions prevailed. The unions helped to change that.

But as their successes mounted, the unions overreached and started going after other groups of workers. These workers, seeing the union successes in other industries, joined and demanded higher wages, too. As the power shifted to the unions it quickly spun out of control.

Which brings us back to Gov. Walker and Wisconsin. I don’t have enough information to know whether the public unions have caused the problem or even whether the public employees pay and benefits are out of line. I see conflicting data from different sources all with a lot of spin.

However, I think it would be far better if Gov. Walker backed off the anti-union rhetoric and learned to negotiate. Unions have a place but they need to get back to their roots of actually balancing the power with the workers as their main concern.

And the rest of the US has to re-learn that value, not just price, is the important factor and learn to appreciate quality workmanship so that once again we can earn a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work.