by Tracy Kurowski

Had the Democrats not lost the Senate race in Massachusetts, today we’d be winding down negotiations on final passage of health care reform and moving toward the urgent matter of jobs creation and passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.  I won’t speculate as to why the Massachusetts race was lost – there are as many good reasons as there are lame excuses.  Instead, I will forge ahead and talk about jobs. because the two – jobs and health care – are so intricately linked, Congressional Democrats should have married the two from the get-go in the 111th Congress.  

The labor movement has been fighting for universal health care for decades and remains among the staunchest supporters of genuine reform despite the fact that 79% of union workers today already have health coverage compared to 52% of non-union workers.  Part of the reason for this is to curtail the exorbitant increases in insurance costs that eat into union members’ wages and other benefits. But another reason is because the Labor Movement has long been a proponent of progressive causes, from civil rights to women’s rights, including opposition to the Iraq war long before it was mainstream.  Read through the collection of resolutions that get passed at state and national union conventions and you’ll find everything from support for single-payer health care and green jobs initiatives to support for LGBT equality, as well as resolutions to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Even though most union workers already earn far more than eight dollars an hour, unions are always at the forefront in the fight to increase the minimum wage for our non-union brothers and sisters. This is because the labor movement is not defined solely by who carries a union card in their wallet. If you care anything for the right of workers to earn a dignified wage and have safe and decent working conditions, then consider yourself part of the labor movement.

So, in the aftermath of Senator Cosmopolitan Centerfold’s victory in Massachusetts, and as Democrats wrangle with how to proceed on health care, I was pleased last Friday when Labor Secretary Solis issued a statement concerning the Bureau of Labor Statistics report on union membership in 2009.  Solis noted that though union membership remained virtually unchanged from 2008-2009 (12.5 percent and 12.3 percent respectively), “among private sector employees, the rate dropped to 7.2 percent from 7.6 percent in 2008.”

Her concern with this rate drop is the effect this has on workers’ wages. “The data also show the median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary union members were $908 per week, compared to $710 for workers not represented by unions.  Union members earn 28 percent more than their non-union counterparts.”

But, Solis also noted the effects this has on health care and other protections:  “When coupled with data showing that union members have access to better health care, retirement and leave benefits, these numbers make it clear that union jobs are good jobs.”

Secretary Solis’ point in analyzing the data just released by the Department of Labor is that when workers are allowed to unionize, the struggle for health care reform and jobs creation is bolstered by the advocacy of millions of educated and empowered union members.

“As workers across the country have seen their real and nominal wages decline as a result of the recession, these numbers show a need for Congress to pass legislation to level the playing field to enable more American workers to access the benefits of union membership.  This report makes clear why the administration supports the Employee Free Choice Act.”

I’ve had conversations with several people panicked at the consequences of the shipwrecked health care reform bill.  I’m worried, too – my own 62 year old mother lacks health insurance.  I can’t help but wonder if the end result would have been different had the Democrats decided to first tackle the Employee Free Choice Act last year as soon as Senator Franken was sworn in as the filibuster-proof 60th vote in the Senate.

We’ll never know what could have been. But if the Democrats shy away from passage of the Employee Free Choice Act as a means to empower workers – and soon – they will get punished at the polls in November. Then there will be little hope for either health care reform or the Employee Free Choice Act for a generation to come.