State employees in Wisconsin are protesting a plan that will limit their rights to collective bargaining (in addition to cutting some benefits). So, why should you care?
Well, let’s start by defining what we’re talking about here. Collective bargaining is a process of voluntary negotiations between an employer and a group of employees (e.g., a trade union) to negotiate conditions of employment (e.g., wages, working hours, safe workplace conditions, etc.). Collective bargaining is important because it allows employees (who typically have fewer individual resources at their disposal as compared to employers) to organize and negotiate for better working conditions. If you have an appreciation for things like the minimum wage, overtime pay, and the weekend, you have collective bargaining to thank.
Now, one of the issues that has been raised with regard to the situation in Wisconsin is the issue of whether state employees (as opposed to employees in the private sector) have the right to collective bargaining. That is a fair question, so let’s see if the Constitution has anything to say about this. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution contains what is known as the Equal Protection Clause. Section 1 of that Amendement states, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the priviledges or immunities of citizens of the United States…” Ok, so that leads us to another question - is collective bargaining a priviledge or immunity? Or rather, do people have a right to collective bargaining? On this question, the United States and the United Nations answer with an unequivocal yes. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948 and is signed by the United States, includes in Article 23, “Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.”
So, it seems pretty clear to me that collective bargaining is a universal human right and that under the Equal Protection Clause, it would be unconstitutional for the state of Wisconsin to try to limit this right of their state employees. But, I don’t live in Wisconsin, so again, why should I care about this? Well, there are at least two big reasons to care.
1) “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (Martin Luther King, Jr)
We cannot afford to sit idle or bear witness to violations of human rights. Threats in Wisconsin make us all more vulnerable. Threats to state employees also affect those who do not work for the government. We are one people and we have to defend human rights whenever and wherever they are threatened.
2) We cannot have a just food system in the absence of a just labor system.
Many of us care about issues related to how the food that we eat was grown, raised, transported, and prepared. We want to know that the production was not harmful to the earth or cruel to the animals. However, sometimes we fail to consider how food production impacts the human beings that are involved. It is noble to be concerned about the living conditions of the chickens, pigs, or cows that we consume, but it is remiss or misguided to not have at least as much concern for the living conditions of the humans who are involved in the processing of those animals (or crops) for consumption.
We support the rights of the state health teachers and the state lunch ladies in Wisconsin (in addition to all other employees) to organize and to bargain. We care about this issue because we care about having a just food system - and a just food system includes equal protection and respect for all persons.