LA Progressive: Veterans in Labor: How Unions Benefit From Ex-Soldiers in Their Ranks
Today, about 1.3 million former military personnel work in union jobs, with women and people of color making up the fastest growing cohorts in their ranks.
By STEVE EARLY
Even in the era of identity politics, one category of identity is much ignored: what journalist Joe Glenton calls “veteranhood.” In the U.S., nineteen million people, across several generations, share a strong sense of personal identity based on having served in the military.
Mainstream media outlets tend to notice veterans only when they’re voting Republican or joining right-wing militias, white supremacist groups, or other MAGA-land formations. On the left, former soldiers who become anti-war activists are highly regarded. But the far larger number of military veterans (more than 100,000) who become law enforcement officers are seen, for good reason, as contributing to the problem of militarized policing, along with the better known Pentagon-to-police equipment pipeline.