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The autoworkers in the 1920-30's and steelworkers in the 1890-90's were the pilots and teachers of their day: they commanded several times the average wages of a normal workers in other industries. In fact, almost all "successful" labor unions were organized among workers that commanded significant wage premium over workers in other industries. When was the last time we heard a burger flipper's union? The effort to unionize fruit and veggie pickers has been going on for several decades now and has been consistently proven futile.
Just like any other monopoly or cartel, the labor union is about erecting barriers to entry, keeping members' wage levels high at the expense of consumers and other workers who might enter the industry and drive wages down. The wage premium is what pays for the union membership dues, and keep the union bosses in business; the real down trodden workers can't afford to pay union membership dues, nor would they want to if any other job they can find would pay more as they are at the bottom of the labor price. It's the over-paid workers that have the incentive and the means to pay for the union bosses. Of course, the union bosses had to do something to arouse political sympathy . . . just like John Edwards' stump speeches about "two America"; never make the mistake of assuming politicians like Edwards to be from the poor America or assuming him not to be part of the problem of keeping the poor poor and keeping the rich like himself rich. The minimum wage laws simply condemn the otherwise lowest paid workers to unemployment; to the extent that rising minimum wage without rising productivity contributes to inflation, the elderly with savings and no longer in the labor market are the ones end up paying dearly for it.
Chaz was partly correct in that we are sold a bill of goods by some corporation . . . in that case the corporation is the incorporated entity called the labor union. See, corporations are just a bunch of individuals getting together in pursuit of happiness (with legal immunity for the several individuals); labor unions are just another bunch of corporate entities. I actually have no problem with a labor union where all membership are voluntary and all actions are non-coercive. It is the coercive nature of most labor unions that I have problem with. Such coercions deprive the liberty and freedom of choice that workers and consumers that would otherwise have enjoyed. Those coercions breed inefficiency and, in the long run, human misery.
posted by 24.91.39...
, Tue, 5 Jul 2011 14:58:44, Thu, 7 Jul 2011 08:20:29
, Thu, 7 Jul 2011 07:00:33, Wed, 6 Jul 2011 17:08:22, Tue, 5 Jul 2011 10:10:14, Tue, 5 Jul 2011 10:46:16
, Wed, 6 Jul 2011 06:45:49
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