Blue-collar Blues

1
Blue-collar Blues

• I. Changing Conditions
• A. Economic
• B. Cultural
• C. Political
• II. Deindustrialization
• A. Importing goods
• B. Exporting manufacturing
• III. Unions and Workers
• A. Union Busting
• B. Worker Rights
• C. Rich and Poor
• IV. Calls for reform

2
Economic

• Inflation
• Yom Kippur War, 1973
• OPEC Cartel
• Iranian Revolution, 1979
• Profits fall
• 10 in 1965
• 4.5 in 1974
• Dow closes lower in 1979 than in 1965
• Unemployment rises as high as ten percent

2001 Rate 3.59
3
Cultural

• Long Hot Summers
• Watergate
• Vietnam
• US 58,000 deaths
• SVN 200,000
• NVN 900,000
• Civilians 1M
• Iran Hostage crisis
• Anger
• July 12, 1979
• 5,000 riot at Comiskey

4
Political

• Nixon landslide, 1972
• Reagan revolution, 1980
• Both depend on working-class votes

Screen Actors Guild president Ronald Reagan
testifying before HUAC, 1947
5
De-regulation

• Airlines
• Civil Aeronautics Board dissolved in 1984
• Lower fares, but wave of bankruptcies
• Trucking
• Motor Carrier Reform Act of 1980 gives trucking
  companies more power to set rates
• Lower rates, but teamsters suffer

6
Importing Goods

• Share of world production falls from 76 to 21
• Between 1969 and 1990, import share of GNP jumps
  from 5.7 to 14

1970 Datsun 240Z
7
De-industrialization

• 30 of plants close between 1969-1976
• Manufacturers invest in South, West, abroad

8
Union Busting

• PATCO Air traffic controllers strike
• NFL Players Association

9
Worker Rights

• Civil Rights Act, 1964
• Title VII
• EEOC
• Occupational Safety and Health Act, 1970
• Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990
• Family and Medical Leave Act, 1993

George H.W. Bush signs ADA, 1990
10
Rich and Poor

• Income gap rises
• Top tax brackets fall

11
A Paralyzed Movement

• Reformers improve labors reputation
• United Mine Workers
• Teamsters for a Democratic Union
• SEIU
• But infighting continues
• AFL-CIO still shrinking
• But ties to other groups are growing stronger

NOWs Kim Gandy and AFL-CIO president John
Sweeney