Power to the Proletariat and Your Support

A fair day's wage for a fair day's work.  ͏  ͏  ͏ [expressnews.com]( [View in Browser]( [Tomlinson's Take]( November 2, 2023 Reader, after Nov. 16, this newsletter will be exclusively for paid subscribers. Don't lose access to Chris Tomlinson's award-winning commentary on politics, money and life in Texas! [Get unlimited digital access: 6 months for only 99¢.](   --------------------------------------------------------------- [Solidarity Pays Off]( Few Americans will see a 25% rise in salary over the next five years, and even fewer low-wage, temporary workers will receive $200,000 [in new compensation between now and 2028](. But then, very few Texans are unionized. The United Auto Workers are the latest labor movement to grab a piece of the growing profits at some of the nation’s largest companies. The [Teamsters negotiated a big payoff with UPS](, and the [Writers Guild of America reached a good deal]( with Hollywood producers. The Screen Actors Guild is not far behind. Unions negotiate the [employment contracts of about 16 million Americans](, about half as much of the workforce they represented in 1983. But [unions have grown more popular]( and visible in recent years, and organizers feel the wind at their backs. Conservatives remain overwhelmingly anti-union, and many oppose even a federal minimum wage. They prefer direct negotiations between employers and workers without a middleman. They blithely look past the power imbalance between management and labor. How often do existing employees get a chance to negotiate significantly higher wages and benefits? Most nonunion workers only see a raise when they receive a promotion or an outside job offer. Since union membership peaked in 1978, inflation-adjusted wages have risen about 15% for the four-fifths of Americans who make up the labor pool. [CEOs saw a 1,209% raise](. The average CEO compensation in 1965 was 21 times an average worker’s; today they receive 344 times the pay. Any reasonable analysis makes UAW President Shawn Fain’s demand for a 40% raise look fair, and his acceptance of a 25% wage hike seems reasonable. Texas law [bans companies from denying work to someone based on their union membership](. The law weakens unions by allowing nonunion employees to free-ride on union contracts without paying membership dues. Yet General Motors auto workers still struck in Arlington because they knew the value of solidarity. As an example of how nonunion workers can benefit from union gains, [Toyota announced a 9% raise for most workers]( following the UAW victory. When I worked for the Associated Press, I joined the Wire Service Guild. When I was a bureau chief, I managed union members. My feeling is unions and management deserve each other. For all their faults, though, [unions balance the power dynamic](. No side signs an agreement that doesn’t work for them. I suspect many more Americans will soon seek the advantages of collective bargaining. TEXAS BOOK FESTIVAL! I’ll be [interviewing Dr. Peter Hotez in Austin]( on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 10 a.m. about his new book, "[The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science](." We’ll be in [C-SPAN](’s BookTV tent if you want to join us in person, or you can watch live on C-SPAN2. HOUSTON BICENTENNIAL! The Houston Chronicle is hosting the [Houston 2036 Task Force]( for a presentation from the Kinder Institute on critical issues facing the city, and I will moderate reactions from a distinguished panel of community leaders. [Join us in person]( Tuesday, Nov. 14 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. or [watch online](.   [Photo of Chris Tomlinson] Chris Tomlinson, Business Columnist   --------------------------------------------------------------- What Else I'm Writing [Voters take advantage and cast their ballots during early voting at the West Gray Multiservice Center Monday, Oct. 23, 2023 in Houston.]( [Lawmakers want voters to spend big]( Voters' permission is needed to invest in water conservation, internet, reliable energy, higher education and state parks.   [JaNae Collins, Lily Gladstone, Cara Jade Myers and Jillian Dion in ]( [Conservative media kills American history, business]( Partisan outrage factories are harming business, education and American unity by politicizing everything.   --------------------------------------------------------------- What I'm Reading Must Read: [Houston lawmaker stands behind viral outburst over GOP border bills](“Y'all don't understand the shit that y'all do hurts our community … It hurts us to our fucking core.” (Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News) Should Read: [The Right's Latest Book-Ban Target: Texas Plantations]( The Texas Historical Commission caves in to the extremists. (Dallas Observer) Interesting Read: [Mission Espada is missing one of its bells. Here’s what happened and the history behind them]( (Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News) Technical Read: [Environmental Consequences of Hydrocarbon Infrastructure Policy]( For years, I’ve written that blocking pipelines does not keep oil and gas in the ground; it only makes transporting them more dangerous. (Becker-Friedman Institute, University of Chicago) Fun Read: [Texas Parks & Wildlife Just Released One of the Best Albums of the Year]( The eleven-song collection features Texas musicians covering well-known songs by Lone Star songwriters. (Texas Monthly)   --------------------------------------------------------------- Question of the Week Should Texas law allow companies to require union membership if it's part of a labor contract? Reply directly to this email and tell me your thoughts.   --------------------------------------------------------------- Mailbag Last Week’s Question: Would you buy stock in an oil company right now? “Yes, I would and do. Have you checked out and reported on the environmental degradation caused by ‘green energy?’ It's interesting. Energy, like everything else on the planet, is a system of balance. All systems should be at our disposal and balance is good for all.” – Parke Patterson, Sugar Land “I would not buy stock in an oil company. Keying in on the previous discussion about hypocrisy, I need to avoid doing anything that will make my grandchildren's and great-grandchildren's lives worse than mine was.” – Christine Campbell, San Antonio “Absolutely. The stock market is about making money. Oil stocks are, pardon the pun, pumped up for a big run in the short term — war, OPEC price manipulation, supply shortages, continuing demand, etc. I think it’s prudent to have a good mix of companies in your investment portfolio and that includes, unfortunately, oil stocks. The sheer scale of divestment needed to alter oil companies' profit quest is too big for me to fathom. But, not everything is about making money. We’re all slowly boiling to death. If there’s no place to live, stock in an oil company is just kindling.” – Parrish Ticer, San Antonio “No, but I could make the case for amoral investors to do so. The industry continues to receive trillions in direct and indirect subsidies. That’s a pretty sweet deal. I think that until we require the allocation of the costs of global warming to carbon fuel purchase prices, the transition away from burning stuff to release energy won’t happen.” – Ted Spradley, Houston   --------------------------------------------------------------- The Takeaway In two weeks, Tomlinson’s Take will become a subscriber-only newsletter. Journalists are in the information business, and with internet search engines stealing all the advertising dollars, we rely on our readers to help pay the bills. If you already subscribe to the [Houston Chronicle]( or the [San Antonio Express-News](, you should be set. You’ve likely begun receiving my columns on Wednesdays and Fridays in addition to the weekly newsletter. If you're already a subscriber but there is a message at the top of the newsletter asking you to subscribe, that means your email address is not associated with a subscription. You can manage your account from the top right corner of the newspapers’ homepages. Let me know if you need detailed instructions, and I will email them to you. Otherwise, you have three choices: Subscribe to the print editions of either [the Chronicle]( or the [Express-News](, sign up for unlimited digital access to them, or [subscribe to receive only my content](. You’ll get Tomlinson’s Take, two columns a week and access to all the linked stories in the Chronicle and Express-News. It’s $2.99 a month. I cannot do this work without subscribers. [The number of U.S. journalists is down 50% since 2000](, not because people don’t read the news -- they consume more than ever — but because the advertising business model is kaput. If you can, please do your part to keep local journalism keeping our democracy informed.   --------------------------------------------------------------- Share With Your Friends Do you know someone who would like Tomlinson's Take? 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