Labor unions support our communities

So many times throughout my career I have been asked by individuals, “What can a union do for me?” That has always concerned me because unions never have and never should be about what we do for individual workers alone, but about what we as union members do for our entire community.

Sure, the list of things being in a union provides on a daily basis to union members is long. Unions also set the standard on everything non-union workers receive for pay, benefits, overtime, workplace safety, retirement and much more. In the midst of all this, the positive impact unions have on their community always seems to be overlooked.

Unions run the country’s largest one-day food drive through the Letter Carriers union. Unions donate money to area nonprofits and have members who volunteer all across the land. That volunteerism could be coaching a Little League team or assisting in a building project that will help homeless people. The list of veterans organizations that unions support is long. The Hawkeye Area Labor Council and the Cedar Rapids Iowa City Building and Trades along with affiliated unions have donated a large sum over the years to Honor Flights just to mention one.

When the floods of 2008 hit many towns in Iowa, unions were some of the first organizations to assist in sandbagging and some of the first on the scene to deal with the aftermath. When a derecho hit the state, unions again were some of the first to offer food and supplies along with cleanup assistance. When tornadoes devastated Marshalltown, unions were first in line to support that community. The list of times unions were there to help through the years is too long for me to list here.

From the very beginning, unions have helped those in our communities whenever help was needed and have done so without having to be asked.

It is no secret that union workers generally make more in wages and benefits than non-union workers. So, it should be no surprise that unions encourage members to donate annually to local nonprofits that help our area’s most vulnerable and underserved. Unlike some corporations, unions do not typically blow our horn about the amount of money we give back to our communities. We do not donate $50,000 and then spend $100,000 making sure everyone knows it.

In Iowa, union members stepped up and started a nonprofit called Local Union Community Charities (LUCC). This 501(C3) receives donations from union and non-union donors and distributes those donations back into our community. When an individual donates money to LUCC that money goes back into the community 100 percent. Individual union organizations across the state pay for all the overhead to assure that every cent of a donor’s dollar goes back into their community.

No matter what you think you know about unions, there is more to the story than you get from those who do not understand what a union really is or what a union’s objectives are. We want people to have a voice and a real shot at having a quality life both at work and outside of the workplace. We are union members and we are members of the community. We are you; we are one.

Rick Moyle is xecutive director of the Hawkeye Area Labor Council AFL-CIO.