100 Historians Sign On to Support Employee Free Choice Act

Some of the nation’s top historians have signed a petition asking Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act and protect the freedom to form unions and bargain.

Organized by University of Washington historian Michael Honey, who is president of the Labor and Working-Class History Association (LAWCHA), the petition includes the signatures of 100 historians from around the country. They’ve looked at our nation’s historical record and say that it’s clear we need to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

Writing on behalf of these 100 historians, Honey makes a strong argument about what the lessons of history can teach us about our current economic straits and the need for workers’ freedom to bargain as a tool to help set our economy on the right track by addressing the long-term imbalances in power between workers and management.

From historical perspective the reason is simple: both democracy and our economy needs labor law reform.

The last Great Depression occurred when unions declined to almost nothing in the 1920s. Republicans cut taxes on the rich and removed many of the regulations of the Progressive era, which in turn allowed bankers and corporations to make sky-high profits. The housing and stock market boomed, and the rich got richer. That led to the crash of 1929.

Because labor was not organized, it had almost no restraining influence on government, leading to a vast divide between the rich and the working class. Sound familiar?

History may not repeat itself exactly, but as Honey notes, there are a lot of similarities between our current situation and the 1930s. In fact, opponents of workers’ freedom to form unions are using scarily similar language, as the Labornerd blog points out. LaborNerd provides a list of anti-worker, anti-union quotes and asks readers to determine which quote comes from the 2000s and which is from the 1930s.

So when corporate front groups try to make the argument that an economic crisis is the wrong time to protect workers’ freedom to bargain for a better life, we should remember it’s the same broken record from the 1930s. As Honey says, empowering workers to form unions and bargain is critical to ensuring a strong, sustainable recovery.

In 1935, the Wagner Act made it easier for workers to organize, establishing the right to freedom of association and speech on the job without employer intimidation or interference. The rise of unions paved the way to the Social Security Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and many of the government safety nets we rely upon today.

Because unions gained in strength, workers increased their wages and their buying power. When the economy came out of its stupor during the rapid industrialization of World War II, unions became widespread. The result was the rise of the largest middle class in world history.

The support of these historians is an important contribution to the fight to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. You can download a full list of the 100 historians who have signed on to this petition here.