Unions: no laughing matter: they help, not hinder, the state and its people.

• Author: Bohi, Heidi
• Position: BUILDING ALASKA

Disparaging stereotypes and wisecracks about labor unions are as common as jokes about New Jersey. Some will even go so far as to say everything wrong with the economy today can be blamed on unions. Vince Beltrami, executive president of the Alaska AFL-CIO, regularly writes on unions in local blogs and publications. He says although labor unions today are much more flexible and sensitive to the needs of employers in negotiations on contract issues, the accusations never seem to stop. When a man recently wrote that union leaders were nothing but a bunch of "goons and thugs that just take money from their members," Beltrami responded that yes, he was a THUG: That Helpful Union Guy.

NO MIDDLE GROUND

When it comes to the polarized opinions separating the pro-union folks from the anti-union team, there doesn't seem to be any middle ground. This is because it is in the interest of big business to increase the bottom line and corporate America does this at the expense of workers who are producing the country's wealth, Beltra--says.

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"The only thing preventing big business from eliminating the middle class is unions. Without unions, you would have even richer businesses and essentially a serf class of working poor," he says. This anti-union sentiment comes from union avoidance: consultants who are collectively paid $3 billion a year to dredge up negative events in union history and spin them as if they are the norm. At the pinnacle of the labor movement's success in the mid-1960s, there were incidents of corruption that continue to be exaggerated and used against organized labor, though this happened more than a generation ago. Although it was this abuse of power that led to tighter oversight of unions, resulting in them being more regulated and held more accountable than corporations in America, Beltrami says, "Those antiunion efforts have seeped into much of the public opinion that is adverse to organized labor."

ALASKA'S ADVOCATES

In a state where the work force has the highest per capita density of union employees in the country after New York--Hawaii is third--despite what many residents think, Beltrami says, it is safe to say that Alaska can be considered a pro-union state, despite its history of conservative administrations. At the same time, he is quick to clear up other misconceptions and set the record straight about all the good things organized labor does for the state, ranging from supporting sports and youth to...