Public Employee Press

Garrido: Our times are a defining moment for labor

DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido maps out a fight-back campaign for the nation's besieged unions.

Unions must become more aggressive as they struggle to survive in an increasingly hostile political and economic climate.

This was the message DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido brought to a seminar at Columbia University on March 2. In his talk, "Rebuilding the Union Movement in a Time of Crisis," Garrido outlined how unions can wield greater political power and encourage more membership involvement.

"Labor is at a defining moment," said Garrido, who described the attacks on unions as the worst in modern times.

About a decade ago, unions had looked to expand their membership dramatically by working to change labor law to make organizing easier - yet this initiative ultimately failed.

Today, unions are now fighting for their very survival as politicians weaken collective bargaining rights and push for right-to-work laws, which allow workers to freeload by receiving union benefits without paying dues to cover the costs.

Right-wing politicians have painted public employees as the "bad guy" while they carry out an agenda that includes cutting pensions, reducing public services and ultimately taking away worker rights, Garrido said.

The nationwide war against public employees was initiated by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who in 2011 gutted the collective bargaining rights of public employees and signed a statewide right-to-work law on March 9.

"As bad as it is, part of the problem is that unions are not without blame," Garrido said. "Let me very clear and blunt: Many unions have been isolationist."

Garrido cited a number of issues that unions must confront. These include addressing the low turnout in union elections, educating the membership about how benefits were won through tough bargaining and agitation, and aggressively organizing new members while promoting a progressive political agenda.

DC 37 has several initiatives for rebuilding the union, which has lost 12,000 members in recent years, Garrido said.

The union has launched a pay equity campaign for women working in the public sector, where they earn 82 cents for each dollar earned by men. The union plans to work with the city to help train welfare recipients for decent jobs. Garrido also mentioned the union's campaign for low-wage workers that increased the base pay of up to 4,500 workers to $11.50 an hour. And DC 37 wants to restore free tuition at the City University of New York.

The union's stepped-up community outreach includes recruiting 5,000 college students to participate in a grassroots, door-to-door campaign on political and economic issues.

— GNH