In times of political rancor, it seems that few events are capable of uniting Republicans and Democrats like a good old-fashioned labor stoppage. Earlier this month, a strike by Chicago teachers — ultimately successful in staunching the flow of neoliberal education reform efforts — united the punditocracy from National Review to Slate in condemnation of teachers’ unions. Some pundits were happy to concern-troll the union’s demands; others were more gleeful in their unabashed scorn. Yet the general tone of union-blaming was the order of the day; voices in favor of the teachers were relegated to the pulpy pages of The Nation or In These Times.
One would be forgiven, on this basis, for concluding that America no longer sees a need for labor unions. Even with the favorable settlement, unions were standing on thin ice. And then came Russell Wilson.
For those who choose not to follow football, last night’s nationally-televised contest between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks reached levels of farce heretofore unknown in the world of professional sports. As time wound down, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson heaved the ball towards a clump of players in the corner of the end zone. The pass was snatched by Green Bay defensive back M.D. Jennings, but as he fell to the ground Seattle receiver Golden Tate snuck his hands onto the pigskin. Incredibly, the referees awarded a touchdown to Seattle. Game over.
I’m taking liberties by using the word ‘referees’; the league’s regular officials watched the game at home, doubtless scraping their jaws on the floor at the display of sheer incompetence. Before the season began, National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell decided to teach the league’s referees a lesson, insisting on making the officials full-time employees of the NFL while swallowing a 16% pay cut. When the refs unsurprisingly balked at the draconian terms, Goodell made his gamble: as NFL Vice President Ray Anderson said, “You’ve never paid for an NFL ticket to watch somebody officiate a game.” The lockout was on.
By now, Goodell’s folly has become plain. While fans don’t watch games for the officials, they do expect reasonably competent enforcement of the rules, something sorely lacking from the season’s first three weeks. No less prominent a fan than Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker — the scourge of Midwestern labor — weighed in on the side of the referees’ union. As it turns out, reflexive labor-bashing can have adverse effects. Who knew!
The lesson NFL fans seem to be learning the hard way — that unions can serve a purpose beyond helping their members — is one that America has decided to ignore in its rush to squash the relics of New Deal-era Keynesianism. Just three years ago, airline captain Chesley Sullenberger became a minor celebrity after successfully crash-landing a jet in the Hudson River; he attributed the success to his union training. While Sullenberger was paraded from talk show to talk show, his praise for unions was swept under the rug like an embarrassing secret. Yet after another nationally-televised snafu overseen by replacement officials, television commentators normally pliant to management have been stumbling over one another to condemn the lockout. If you’d like America to back labor unions, best to entrust them with the nation’s fantasy teams, not their children.
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