My grandfather was a milkman for 20 years, mostly at his own Lakeside Dairy. My father was a milkman for 40 years, 20 at Lakeside. When I was a boy, I vowed never to stay so long at one place. Five jobs in five years after college. Then, 20 years at CMP Publications.

Now, of course, no child has to make that vow, because no one will ever again work 20 years in one place.

The twin truisms of work in America have finally sunk it: “management are idiots,” and “company loyalty runs in one direction, from you to the company.”

One reason is the fatuous management mantra: “shareholders first, screw the employees and the public as long as I make $10 million a year in stock options.” And thus the rest of us trampled and impoverished.

The other is, “Who needs unions?” The answer is: everyone who is not a capitalist. Without a union, the power imbalance is hopeless. Capital will drive wages and benefits down to the lowest common denominator.

 “I don’t need a union; I am a talented professional, always in demand, set my own terms.” The word hogwash suggests itself. If you spend a half-hour reading about American Labor History, you will realize we needed unions then and now. Without them, everyone except the 1% would live in poverty that would make China in the 60s look like a worker’s paradise.