As everyone knows, especially after the recent Pride Month of June where almost every large American and Western corporation tried to outdo one other in promoting the radical LGBT agenda, Big Business has gone woke. Indeed, the extent of the capture of Big Business by the left was on full display In June, where one was constantly bombarded with pro-LGBT products in almost every major chain store, and almost all television commercials and print advertisements promoted the radical LGBT agenda. Even the Euro 2020 soccer championship was tough to watch, as almost every advertisement on the edges of the pitch was rainbow-colored and halftime television commercials repeatedly promoted the LGBT theme.
Significantly, the support of Big Business for leftist causes goes well beyond the extremist LGBT agenda. The American Chamber of Commerce and most large corporations support unlimited legal and illegal immigration to America, despite the fact that low-skilled and unskilled workers–especially minorities–are being devastated by this and ripping American culture at the seams. Big tech is openly censoring conservative views and organizations on most social media platforms. Big Business is the leading promoter of the radical racial, ethnic, and gender “diversity” agenda and openly discriminates against people who do not have the “right” identity in recruiting, hiring, and promotions. The list of large corporations supporting Planned Parenthood, Black Lives Matter, and China (and its forced labor camps, forced abortion policies, and religious intolerance) reads like a Who’s Who of American Big Business. Indeed, the wokeness of Big Business is so complete that the conservative magazine National Review dedicated its entire July 1, 2021, edition to “Occupied Wall Street: ‘Woke Capitalism’ and the Radicalization of Corporate America.”
So, what can social conservatives do to proactively fight back against the radical left-wing agenda of Big Business? What about exploring the possibility of collaborating with private sector unions? (I cannot believe that as a life-long Republican I am saying this… And I emphasize private sector unions. Because they do not face competition, public sector unions have already travelled too far down the road of wokeness.)
I am aware that private sector unions support some things that social conservatives oppose. I am aware that almost all private sector unions have typically strongly supported the Democratic Party. I am also aware that corruption has been a big problem for unions (though this has been getting better of late). That being said, there are still many areas of interest where social conservatives and private sector unions could partner with each other, including on immigration, China, improving the lives of American workers, and supporting the family and traditional values. Indeed, we must not forget that until the last few decades, American private sector unions supported faith, family, freedom, and country. And significantly, the timing may just be right for such a partnership. With social conservatives being wholeheartedly dumped by Big Business, and with private sector unions seeing their membership and influence hemorrhaging over the past few decades despite their support for the Left (in their heyday in the 1950’s, private sector unions claimed over 1 out of 3 private sector workers; today, that number is just 1 in 16), a marriage of convenience, or at least an exploration of courtship, could be a real possibility.
So in what areas could social conservatives partner with private sector unions? First, immigration. High levels of both legal and illegal immigration have been devasting to unions, as Big Business can avoid working with unions when there is a virtually unlimited supply of immigrants willing to work for low wages and poor working conditions.
Second, China. By partnering with sweat shops and using workers in forced labor camps, American corporations have been offshoring millions of former American union jobs to China.
Third, improving the lives of average working men and women by, among other things, supporting the unionization of large corporations. In an effort to pay lower wages and maintain poorer working conditions, Big Business has almost always opposed efforts to unionize its workforce. However, unionization does bring key benefits to the average working man and woman, including increased salaries (of up to 25%) and better retirement, health, and disability packages. Unionization also brings other benefits that social conservatives support. As Wells King put it in his piece “Why conservatives should embrace labor unions to reduce economic inequality” in USA Today (9/24/2020): “The wages, benefits, and stability of union jobs strengthen workers’ families and communities. They ensure that men in union jobs are more likely to get and stay married, that union workers report greater life satisfaction, and that children with a greater union presence are more upwardly mobile.” While unionization may increase the costs of businesses as a result, what is wrong with giving the average middle-class and low-class worker a better standard of living? Indeed, the decline of private sector unions over the past few decades has led to wages stagnating while corporations are making record profits. It is estimated that the dramatic decline of private sector unions over the past five decades has led to one-third of the wage gap among higher earning and lower earning men and one-fifth of the same gap among women. Why not put some of the billions of dollars big corporations are spending on woke causes into the pockets of hard-working Americans instead?
And last but not least, the traditional family. As noted above, during its golden years in the 1940’s-1960’s, the American private sector union movement was a champion of the working family and traditional values. We must not forget that Ronald Reagan was a leader in the private sector union movement in the 1940’s and 50’s. While over the past few decades private sector unions have abandoned many of their former “conservative” views, doing so has failed to stem the tide of the erosion of their membership and influence and has brought no tangible benefits to their members. Perhaps the leadership of these unions are finally open to doing something new—like partnering with social conservatives and once again becoming leaders in the pro-family and pro-values arena—as a way to boost membership and public support.
In an effort to counter the increasing support of large corporations for the radical left-wing agenda, social conservatives should consider partnering with the traditional enemy of Big Business—private sector unions. On issues such as immigration, China, improving the lives of average working men and women, and supporting the family and traditional values, potential areas of partnership exist for social conservatives and private sector unions. While differences will always exist between the two groups—and while social conservatives will have to move on the issue of supporting unionization and the unions will have to move on the issue of supporting the family and traditional values—each side has incentives to explore the possibility of collaboration, at least in these areas. Our mutual enemy of Big Business would make us strange bedfellows indeed.
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