Essay about Labor Unions’ Involvement in Politics

External advocacy and political involvement is deeply engrained in the culture of labor unions. Bill Fletcher Jr. writes myth 8: â€Å"the union uses our money for political action and I have no say in the matter,† in his novel â€Å"They’re Bankrupting Us† And 20 Other Myths about Unions. In this myth, Bill Fletcher Jr. addresses unions and how they take political action. Labor unions often take political action in a controversial way, while not always getting full advantage of their work. Fletcher says that when unions and politics come together, people especially interpret unions’ missions and their power critically. He does not expand on how he titles the myth, but skims the surface on union consensus regarding politics. The myth is about the†¦show more content†¦If a member did not support the union’s choice of candidate, the member could easily refuse to give money. Politics within the union movement have narrowed and less people are involved in making decisions, due to the disengagement of members in political affairs. However, at the level of political action, Fletcher states that engagement can only be achieved through dialogue with union members. When members are engaged in political action, their views are respected. From the beginning, union involvement in political and legislative matters has been a component of unions and their external advocacy. When labor unions first began forming, political parties that represented the interests of the workforce began forming as well. However, due to the bipartisan power in the United States, it is hard for third parties to succeed electorally, which ultimately ended the idea of a labor party. This is why the American Federation of Labor believed that labor should not form its own parties, but should lobby the current two-party system. 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