Tennessee's Lamar Alexander tells a story, piggy backing on the Boeing v. NLRB story, of how "right to work" enabled the birth of an industry in a state which none previously, at least, no auto manufacturing industry. It is seemingly telling that Saturn failed where Nissan thrived, one saddled with union rules and the other just having to compete in a market for talented workers - and winning.
The bigger picture is also telling - about how unions don't contest with management, they contest with other workers. In this case, Boeing's union force is doing its best to avoid having to compete with workers from South Carolina.
That's the key union illusion - the unions help workers by protecting them from competition with other workers, workers which may be willing to work harder or for lower wages.
Unions are wrong in the pragmatic sense because they hurt people by reducing employment. They are wrong in the idealoigical sense because they allow workers to obtain a coercive government monopoly on labor, which they use against other workers. They are wrong spiritually because they create a system which feeds on the entitlement mentality - there's no one more miserable than a rich union man griping about how the company is putting it over on him (ALPA being the biggest offender, perhaps followed by the louses at the Boeing machinists' union complaining about their "palty" benefits).
The best thing about private sector unions is that the union experiment has about run its course and enough folks realize unions do not represent their best interests. The unions will continue to die from self inflicted gunshot wounds.
The bigger picture is also telling - about how unions don't contest with management, they contest with other workers. In this case, Boeing's union force is doing its best to avoid having to compete with workers from South Carolina.
That's the key union illusion - the unions help workers by protecting them from competition with other workers, workers which may be willing to work harder or for lower wages.
Unions are wrong in the pragmatic sense because they hurt people by reducing employment. They are wrong in the idealoigical sense because they allow workers to obtain a coercive government monopoly on labor, which they use against other workers. They are wrong spiritually because they create a system which feeds on the entitlement mentality - there's no one more miserable than a rich union man griping about how the company is putting it over on him (ALPA being the biggest offender, perhaps followed by the louses at the Boeing machinists' union complaining about their "palty" benefits).
The best thing about private sector unions is that the union experiment has about run its course and enough folks realize unions do not represent their best interests. The unions will continue to die from self inflicted gunshot wounds.
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