The National Labor Relations Act protected workers’ rights to organize unions and bargain collectively in the U.S.

I was in high school when Reagan fired the striking air traffic controllers. I didn’t know much about Unions at the time.

I learned a lot about Unions and labor law when I tried to stop the offshoring of our local manufacturing plant, the largest employer in Sonoma County and a spinoff of Hewlett-Packard. I eventually won the National Labor Relations Board case that I filed, but it was two years after the plant closed. Even the best corporate citizens will put profits over people and the law when penalties are meaningless.

I heard on the news that wages adjusted for inflation have stayed flat since the Reagan administration. Is it a coincidence or do unions help boost wages for nonunion companies too?