Our union (CVTCEA) president Ms. Peck emailed faculty members regarding a blog site for sharing ideas. The latest issue was about "minimum wage". See the following Tech Blog site: http://www.weac.org/multimedia/blogs/wtcs_blog/09-08-07/Minimum_Wage.aspx
I agree with the author's "...But while it is easy to point to education and training as a solution, it’s much more difficult for low-wage workers to attain the skills that will lead them to family supporting employment." But I would also like to go back to President Eisenhower’s 3 old principles on the philosophy of labor as a background understanding.
The first principles – he states, “the ultimate values of mankind are spiritual; these values include liberty, human dignity, opportunity and equal rights and justice.”
The second principle, he speaks of the economic interest of the employer and employee being a mutual prosperity.
It is the last principle that we have seen a great skepticism as well as modification . He stated: “labor relations will be managed best when worked out in honest negotiation between employers and unions, ‘without Government’s unwarranted interference’.” History tells us that improving the lives of workers through education, job training, and consciousness raising can never be enough.
Capitalism has been spearheading with a double-edged-sword wielding its blessings and curses in the U.S. for more than a century, while other countries such as England, France, Germany, Australia , and countries in the Scandinavian regions have historically developed strong Labor Parties , Socialist Parties, and various kind of third parties that played a prominent role in strengthening the unions and general well being of their citizens. Two party system – is not the norm, which may take on unicameral functions.
Though labor union laws vary from country to country, immersing in a broader International framework could provide a mirror to reflect on the accolades and criticisms of unions of what we have practiced - if change is not a phantom or rhetoric!