Wisconsin, Collective Bargaining and Stamps

Columnist Bill Shein writes on his Reason Gone Mad website, "The protests in Wisconsin in support of collective-bargaining rights for working people have an odd link to my longstanding hobby: Stamp collecting."

Bill explains:

"As news broke from Wisconsin, I thought immediately of an American stamp issued in 1975 that honors 'Collective Bargaining: Out of Conflict … Accord.' It shows two overlapping circles, suggesting common ground...

"Back then, the U.S. Postal Service regularly issued commemorative stamps that recognized the lives of working people. Perhaps the impetus was the hundreds of thousands of postal employees who earned decent wages and benefits – particularly beginning in the early 1970s, when collective bargaining helped to secure them...

"Review the last half-century of our postal history and you’ll find stamps honoring railroad engineers (1950), truck drivers (1953), Labor Day (1956), and a campaign to employ disabled Americans (1960). One 1950 stamp honored Samuel Gompers, founder of the American Federation of Labor. A 1957 commemorative honored teachers and the National Education Association. In 1962, a new stamp even gave a nod to union-run apprenticeship programs that trained young people for good-paying jobs...

"In the mid-80s, as President Ronald Reagan’s policies began to undermine the economic prospects of lower- and middle-class Americans, our postage stamps abandoned these topics. Stamps boosting labor were replaced with benign subjects like sea shells and steam engines, cats and owls, classic cars and polar explorers...

"Last month, just days before the first Wisconsin mobilization, the Postal Service issued another stamp featuring Reagan – a man whose approach to labor, organized and otherwise, set in motion the 30-year race-to-the-bottom that today pits workers against workers across the nation. (Ominously, the new Reagan issue is a “forever” stamp.)...

"Could stamp collecting bridge the partisan divide or make a difference in Wisconsin? Um, no. But it’s worth noting that 1975’s collective-bargaining stamp features two solid circles, one red and one blue, overlapping to produce an area of bright purple."

To read Bill's entire column, click here.