Capital Gains, Labor Losses By Peter Kellman, MaineToday
Today, everything is viewed from the perspective of capital. What used to be called 'labor' is now called 'human capital.' If we were to switch labor and capital in Lincoln's State of the Union message - 'Capital is the superior of labor, and deserves much the higher consideration' - and attribute it to almost any of today's political leaders, few would question the statement.
The complicity of labor unions in the present practice of corporate governance began when the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, and the political climate of that period, changed labor from the social movement it had been to an interest group. This led to what has mistakenly been called a 'social contract' between labor and management in which labor negotiates with executives over wages, hours and working conditions, but doesn't question their right to manage - or, more accurately, to govern. Since then, capital has been referred to as management, and labor as human capital. Management extracts human capital, the way it does any other of the Earth's resources, with little regard to human health, happiness, justice or the environment.
The candidate unions back for the presidency will become important the day unions stop being an interest group and take the lead in a social movement that challenges capital's role in the governance of this society.