Defending the Union

At this point, we’re all versed in what’s turning out to be a pretty heroic stand held by public workers and advocates for sanity at the Wisconsin state house in response to Gov. Scott Walker’s attempt to effectively ban collective bargaining; a move considered an assault on public sector unions, and the public sector, for that matter.

And this piece in Mother Jones did a nice job reminding, hopefully some readers not of the choir, what unions are capable of, and why they’re important to the middle class:

Of course unions have pathologies. Every big human institution does. And anyone who thinks they’re on the wrong side of an issue should fight it out with them. But unions are also the only large-scale movement left in America that persistently acts as a countervailing power against corporate power. They’re the only large-scale movement left that persistently acts in the economic interests of the middle class.

Matthew Brian Hersh served as senior editor at Shelterforce from March 2008 to October 2012. He studied English at Rutgers University and has spent his professional career in journalism, policy, and politics.

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