Labor Law and History of Unions

http://mises.org/story/3553#intro


This is a good piece to understand the major pieces of federal legislation that under gird labor unions.


My oped for the day: Unions are a government mandated monopoly on labor, which allows those workers in the union to avoid the perils of competition with other workers for their employer's favor.

The big problem? Unions are bad for workers, in several ways.

First, the Union's primary means to gain power is to breed discontent within the ranks - the more resentful the workforce, the more they see the union as their ally.

Second, the worker's under the union's protection are protected from all the other workers who would work for that same employer for a lower wage - this is particularly punitive for low skilled workers, who cannot produce enough to 'earn back' a high union wage and therefore are not employable at a union company.

The idea that the Federal Govt backs these unions by law - it should be repugnant to any citizen who cares about the less fortunate or about liberty in general.

I have no problem with a union not operating on a Federal mandate - at least that way, they take their own chances and suffer the consequences of what they do or don't do. With the Fed guarding their backs, they bully companies into bad decisions, and the results are becoming predictable. These union companies are finding themselves uncompetitive in the market place. The ultimate cruelty for their employees is finding they have no job and after bankruptcy, no pension.

Unions - bad for workers on all fronts.