Inequality can be addressed only if we start talking about the ‘working class
Here is a new theory that I expound upon in detail in a recent article and a forthcoming book: unions declined because class issues have been de-legitimized in America. In a nation where class is politically invisible, unions have been unable to claim a legitimate role as defenders of working class interests.
Instead, unions have been painted as just another special interest. For decades now, labor’s status as a special interest has weakened unions’ legitimacy, eroded workers’ legal protections and constrained labor’s ability to act.
.. Unlike in the US, Canadian unions were not painted as a “special interest.” In politics and in the courts, unions were accepted as legitimate representatives of working-class interests.
.. More broadly, politicians, civic leaders and organizations seeking to stem rising inequality need to stop talking about a mushy – and somewhat meaningless and outdated – “middle class.” They need to acknowledge the real and growing class divide between the wealthy and the working class.