The Role of Unions in Creating Wealth in the Early Twenty-First Century
Authors
Stephen R. Sleigh
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
Abstract
This past year as LERA president has been a busy one for me. My day job at the Machinists Union has been filled with mergers, negotiations, strikes, bankruptcies, and the breakup of the AFL-CIO. For LERA I feel a little like I’ve been living the Johnny Cash song, “I’ve been everywhere.” Over the past year I have spoke at LERA chapters in St. Louis, Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle, Detroit, Portland, Oregon, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, New Jersey, the Carolinas, central New York, and my home chapter in Washington, D.C. My speeches have generally focused on the common interests of labor and management in addressing the crisis in health care access, affordability, and quality. My theme today is a little more one-sided: how can organized labor in the United States survive and thrive in the coming years?
