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SECTION 1 2 3<br />
WHAT CAN BE DONE<br />
(CASE STUDY CONTINUED)<br />
Dwayne works in a fast food restaurant in Chicago. His wages have<br />
to provide for two daughters, as well as his siblings, his mother and his<br />
grandmother. ‘I’m the sole provider of the household and can’t manage<br />
with an $8.25/hour wage ... given how hard we are worked, fast food<br />
workers deserve to show something for it.’ 334<br />
The rise in inequality in the USA has happened in parallel with the<br />
decline in the real value of the minimum wage and the decline in union<br />
membership. 335 The incomes of the bottom 90 percent of workers<br />
have barely risen, while the average income of the top one percent<br />
has soared. 336<br />
The erosion of bargaining power<br />
Unions represent an important counterweight to top executives and<br />
shareholders whose imperative is largely to maximize profit. Their negotiating<br />
power helps ensure prosperity is shared; collective bargaining by unions<br />
typically raises members’ wages by 20 percent and drives up market wages for<br />
everyone. 337 Trade unions also play a crucial role in protecting public services.<br />
In South Korea, for instance, public sector health unions held a strike and<br />
protest rallies in June 2014 after the government announced deregulation<br />
and privatization of health services.<br />
Many developing countries lack a history of strong unions, and in many<br />
places workers are facing a crackdown on their right to organize, which has<br />
contributed to falling union membership. In Bangladesh’s garment industry,<br />
where 80 percent of workers are women, union membership stands at one<br />
in 12. 338 According to an analysis of the Rana Plaza disaster, Bangladesh<br />
factory owners have ‘outsize influence in the country’s politics, hindering<br />
the establishment and enforcement of labour law’. 339<br />
In South Korea, public sector workers face deregistration of unions, unlawful<br />
arrests and anti-strike action. In 2014, Yeom Ho-seok, a Korean employee of<br />
a company making repairs to Samsung phones and founder of the Samsung<br />
Service Union, committed suicide following a period of financial hardship. After<br />
founding the Samsung Service Union, Yeom’s work was reported to have been<br />
reduced by his employer; his take home wage fell to just $400 a month. 340<br />
The right to organize has been enshrined in ILO conventions, but since 2012<br />
the official group representing employers (the Employers Group) has contended<br />
that this does not include the right to strike. In 2014 this conflict was referred<br />
to the ILO’s governing body. Striking is the last resort of workers to bargain<br />
with their employees for a fair deal, and revoking it would be a huge blow<br />
to workers’ rights.<br />
77