Jeremy Wolf
3/3/08
The Class Structure of Contemporary Unions
Frank Annunziato argues that, rather than being engaged in a collective enterprise
focused on the improvement of conditions for the working class, or even for a specific
group of workers, American labor unions are in the business of producing a commodity,
which he terms union representation.
This commodity is produced by the staff of the
union, and is purchased and consumed by the union s membership. Additionally, in the
process of production of the commodity union representation surplus value is produced
by the staff of the union and appropriated and distributed by the officers and Executive
Board of the union. Because of this pattern of production, appropriation, and distribution
of surplus value generated through commodity production, American labor unions may
be understood as capitalist enterprises.
Annunziato s argument is convincing. He notes that through the formal structures
discussed above, union members have largely been reduced to passive consumers of this
expert representation, while unions have simultaneously been thrust into a position in
which their primary responsibility is not collective action, but individual representation.
When unions are split into a class of members who pay a fee in order to receive a service,
and a separate class of experts who are paid by the membership to provide this service,
there is actually a split in interests, accompanied by a significant power differential, that
may lead in some cases to the membership being exploited by the staff and leadership.
On the surface, it seems as though it should be impossible for consumers to be
exploited by service providers. The reason for this is simple: exploitation, in a Marxian
framework, can only occur when surplus value produced by one person is appropriated
21
Annunziato, 1990
22
Ibid, 9
23
Ibid, 9
24
ibid, 18
14
Convention