My libertarian leanings lean away from unions quite naturally. But I can’t see the flaw in the above argument for union membership. The only power the average worker has today will be in numbers. In and of ourselves, we are all replaceable. We are becoming more replaceable all the time, as the world grows more mobile and technology encroaches on previously human terrain.

This post is for the many people who have been convinced that unions are protecting shoddy workers and somehow taking advantage of us all, as well as the people who know this image of unions to be false. We can point to a few inept teachers who have kept positions because of union interventions, I’m sure, but what percentage of the whole do they represent? I’d venture to say it’s a tiny percentage. I’d like to assert, in fact, that our teachers are doing an impressive job overall. As recreational reading falls, electronics proliferate, out-of-wedlock births rise, poverty congregates in certain zip codes, and students who speak English as a second language become larger percentages of our schools and classrooms, our test scores ought to be falling, possibly even plummeting. The fact that those scores are stagnant tells us that our teachers are fighting heroically against the tide.

In the meantime, I’ll go back to a puzzle that long-time readers have heard before: I don’t understand how America reached this state of antipathy towards unions. What happened to make us think we did not deserve the benefits that unions provide? Portions of the press make it seem as if unions are siphoning off money from the membership and then somehow cheating the public by getting those members unjustly high wages and benefits that employers cannot afford.

Many people seem to be waiting for the government to fix conditions for workers, but a higher minimum wage will not fix those conditions. More likely, McDonalds will install touchscreens to replace some front counter workers. Other businesses will cut workers’ hours to balance out the cost increase from the wage increase. I’ll still support that higher minimum because I believe we need a more rational minimum wage — one that does not obligate so many parents of my students to work two or more jobs apiece just to survive — but that increased wage will not rescue the American worker.

We can’t wait for the government to save us. The government brought us No Child Left Behind. The government championed the Common Core and PARCC testing, even going so far as to threaten schools and students for opting out of that testing. The U.S. Postal service just delivered a three-month-old flyer to my house advertising Christmas specials, a few days after it delivered my daughter’s birthday card four months after I put it in the mail.

Eduhonesty: Unionizing is tough work. Especially in the beginning, people are threatened with financial losses. People lose jobs. People end up standing on cold street corners, facing abuse from employers and sometimes passersby.

But unions bring decent wages, good healthcare, safety protections, vacation time, a decent retirement and other benefits. We need to speak up for our unions. The few incompetent teachers who have been protected by the union are part of the price for those benefits.

Our unions built the American middle class. They provided wages that could buy houses, boats and cars to average Americans. I’d like to ask readers to take time to vocalize their support for unions (those who support them, anyway) to help outsiders understand. We need to bring perspective and balance to the union story. It’s not about a few teachers who did not do their jobs. It’s about jobs that can provide a real livelihood, a retirement, and fair and just working conditions for Americans.

Let’s stand with the thugs.