September 1, 2025

By Arthur H. Gunther III

thecolumnrule.com

Hail unions on this Labor Day weekend.

Once upon a time in post-war America, in the small towns, in the big cities, the middle class was growing, aided by the great manufacturing and export advantage the nation held because of ravaged Europe and the Pacific region. But there was another incentive – the unions that survived the Great Depression and turn-of-the-century Big Business greed. Union Strong was the working class response to sweatshops, child labor, six-day workweeks, unsafe conditions and low wages.

The gains won by unions, which had an advantage as American business bustled post-war, enabled home purchases, the automotive industry, suburbia and the tentacle effect of aiding industry in small towns.

In 1955, the top corporate tax rate was around 52 percent while in 2025, it is approximately 21 percent. Yes, globalization and other factors now challenge corporations, but many benefit from various tax incentives and credits not available in 1955. The result is that Big Business does not invest as it did post-war, and Ronald Reagan’s promise of “trickle-down” economics has not happened. Meanwhile, union membership has declined, and the effect is subsequent income inequality.

Various economic studies show that unions improve worker pay and also influence social and political debate, raising standards for both union and nonunion workers. 

According to a 2023 report by the U.S. Department of Labor, “Increased unionization has the potential to contribute to the reversal of the stark increase in inequality seen over the last half century. In turn, increased financial stability to those in the middle or bottom of the income distribution could alleviate borrowing constraints, allowing workers to start businesses, build human capital and exploit investment opportunities.” (“Labor Unions and the U.S. Economy,” by Laura Feiveson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Microeconomics, August 28, 2023.)

Today’s housing shortage, uber-high rents that stall savings for home purchase, the rising inability to pay for ordinary food and other supplies, even homelessness and the decline of small towns and urban decay are directly the result of under-investment by Big Business. The pain and loss suffered by ordinary Americans is then exploited by far rightists who seek authoritarian control by blaming diversity, equality and empathy.

In their day, unions were the bulwark against such deliberate takeover. The only way for our people to secure and advance the now-threatened American Dream is to raise wages. May unions grow to help accomplish that.

The writer is a retired newspaperman.

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