How did Ronald Reagan's union busting tactics affect hourly union workers of today ?

Question

How did Ronald Reagan's union busting tactics affect hourly union workers of today ?

Answer 1

He's one of the reasons why the poor are getting poorer as the rich get richer.  Corporations aren't even required to pay a living wage to workers.

Answer 2

Unless you're an air traffic controller, it doesn't affect it at all.

Answer 3

It set the trend for all union busting.  Look at the wages.

Answer 4

when reagen busted the air traffic controllers union, it seemed to me, it set a precident on bargaining power that the unions had up to that point, with the hiring of scabs to replace striking workers so the outcome was not in the workers favor.

Answer 5

I'm not sure how many people remember the air traffic controllers strike in the 1980's but Reagan stepped in and essentially fired them all and hired replacement permanent workers. That one act set the ball in motion for union busting and began what we now see as diminishing workers rights. Reagan was probably the worst president for average working class people many of whom had risen to middle class status based on great union jobs that provided adequate living wages and decent benefits.

Ronald Reagan probably did more damage to working class wages than any other president in modern U.S. history. Even Richard Nixon was not as bad as Reagan. George W. Bush is right behind Reagan in damaging working class wages and killing their hopes of the "American Dream."

Ronald Reagan changed America, and -- with all due deference to his dedication to principle, his indomitable spirit, his affability -- not for the better.

Reagan slashed taxes on the rich, refused to raise the minimum wage and declaring war on unions by firing air traffic controllers during their 1981 strike, Reagan took aim at the New Deal's proudest creation: a secure and decently paid working class. Broadly shared prosperity was out; plutocracy was dug up from the bone yard of bad ideas. The share of the nation's wealth held by the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans rose by 5 percent during Reagan's presidency, while virtually everyone else's declined.

You need look no further than the current recovery to see Reagan's lasting effect on our economy. Corporate profits have been rising handsomely for the past couple of years, at roughly a 30 percent annual rate. But over two years into the recovery, wages are limping along at roughly the rate of inflation, gaining 1 to 2 percent annually. With the percentage of American workers who belong to unions -- 12 percent overall and just 8 percent in the private sector -- having sunk to its lowest level since before FDR, is it any wonder that wages are stuck?

Roughly a quarter of American workers belonged to unions when Reagan took office. When he broke the PATCO strike, it was an unambiguous signal that employers need feel little or no obligation to their workers, and employers got that message loud and clear -- illegally firing workers who sought to unionize, replacing permanent employees who could collect benefits with temps who could not, shipping factories and jobs abroad. Reagan may have preached traditional values, but loyalty was not one of them.

All of this proved that Reagan probably was suffering from the effects of Alzheimers while still in office because he literally killed the American worker and his "Reagonomics" policy (known as "trickle down") are still being felt today.

Wages are stagnant and union membership is at an all time low as is workers rights.