A recent letter attacking unions painted them as relics of the past, extortion rackets that fuel inflation, protect mediocrity and distort our politics. It’s a familiar script, but it doesn’t hold up to reality.

Let’s start with the claim that unions “once served a purpose” but are now obsolete. Tell that to the UPS drivers who just won air conditioning in their trucks after decades of sweltering heat, or the nurses fighting for safe staffing levels in hospitals. Unions are still doing exactly what they were created to do: giving workers a voice where they’d otherwise have none.

And no, unions don’t cause inflation. If they did, today’s inflation would be sky-high, because union membership was once three times higher than it is now. Instead, corporate profits — not wages — have driven most recent price hikes. When workers win raises, that money doesn’t vanish into offshore accounts. It gets spent in local businesses, strengthening communities.

The “unions protect mediocrity” line is another tired myth. Contracts simply ensure fairness. Employers can still reward excellence — they just can’t play favorites or fire someone on a whim. In fact, union workplaces often see higher productivity because workers with job security feel safe speaking up about safety and efficiency.

As for politics, let’s be honest: corporations spend billions every year influencing Washington, while unions spend a fraction of that. And unlike corporations, union leaders are democratically elected. If members don’t like where money goes, they can vote their leaders out. Try doing that with the CEO of Amazon.

Pensions? The real culprits in pension crises have been Wall Street crashes and employers shortchanging funds, not union mismanagement. And when pensions were at risk, it was unions — not corporations — that fought to save them.

The letter also accused unions of being “authoritarian.” That’s rich, considering that without unions, workers have exactly zero say in corporate decision-making. Inside unions, contracts are voted on, leaders are elected, and debate is often fierce. That’s democracy, messy as it can be.

Here’s the truth: unions built the American middle class. When unions were strong, wages grew, inequality shrank and the U.S. economy dominated the world. Since unions were weakened, we’ve seen stagnant wages, runaway inequality and corporations raking in record profits while working families struggle to keep up.

The mythology isn’t that unions are defenders of fairness. The mythology is that workers are better off on their own, negotiating one by one against billion-dollar corporations. That’s not freedom — that’s surrender.

If America truly wants stronger workers, fairer wages and more opportunity, the solution isn’t weaker unions. It’s stronger ones.