There is an article in the local birdcage liner today, written by a former State Department official, bemoaning the American “war on unions” that was sparked – he claims - by President Reagan’s firing of the nation’s air traffic controllers when they struck – illegally - early in his Presidency.
The article goes on to cite statistics showing that the number of private-sector unionized workers has now slipped below 8% of the workforce – its lowest level in many decades. My first thoughts were that there is no “war on unions”; unions simply make their employers unable to compete in the global economy, so companies must do what they must in order to remain competitive. That may involve outsourcing production operations to smaller, non-union companies, moving manufacturing operations to “right to work” states, or even moving them overseas. But it’s not a “war” on unions – it’s just a battle to survive.
But on a deeper level, nobody questions the basic rectitude of unions and union work in general any more. The fact is that unions are basically evil & destructive, and we should all keep that in mind when considering their complaints, actions, and demands.
Collective bargaining is a device that ensures mediocrity in the workplace by protecting the least productive employees and discouraging the most productive (or creative) from working to their potential. It compensates everyone according to a pre-negotiated scale, thus extinguishing any individual’s inclination to be more productive or to suggest improvements to the “line.” Every ambitious person who has ever started working in a union shop has experienced the call of co-workers telling them to “slow down, you will make everyone else look bad.” Collective Bargaining Agreements (“CBA’s”) not only seek to maximize compensation and benefits for the members – nothing wrong with that - but also promote “featherbedding” (retaining jobs where the function is no longer needed), and work rules that minimize efficiency in order to maximize the number of dues-paying workers. How can any employer in a competitive industry bear this burden (unless his competitors are also stuck with it)?
It is not surprising that the majority of “union” manufacturing companies from the 1960’s have gone bankrupt; they simply cannot survive in a competitive economy. The ones that remain have largely moved overseas or greatly revamped their operations to minimize the number of union employees. GM’s unionized workforce is a small fraction of what it was in the 1970’s, while making about the same number of vehicles. Unions FORCED GM to accelerate the move to robotics. (And of course the Unions DID force GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy, but Our Beloved President bailed them out).
Many of the fiscal problems facing our governments large and small are due to CBA’s negotiated by politically-connected appointees who really didn’t care how much they gave away, knowing that by the time the “chickens came home to roost” they would be long gone. And when private sector unions were forced to give back some of their most generous benefits, public sector unions just laughed and carried on; their employers didn’t have to worry about going bankrupt or not being “competitive.” Thus we have government workers (mainly teachers) making wages comparable to the highest available in the private sector, benefits better than any private sector employer could possibly afford to pay, and generous, early retirements (at age 52 or so) that will be draining the wallets of American taxpayers for generations. And we taxpayers, are providing this compensation – at the point of a gun – to people who are UNION members who can never be fired for incompetence, rarely disciplined, and rarely forced to do anything they don’t feel like doing.
The “founding fathers” of our collecting bargaining history were avowed communists, but in the 40’s and 50’s that term became rather inflammatory, so they take great pains now not to use it any more. But they are still communists/socialists, and always have been. That’s what collective bargaining IS: everyone gets the same.
The near-death of private sector unions is not a bad thing. They have cost Americans millions and millions of jobs over the past few decades, while ensuring that the few remaining union jobs remain relatively well-paid. But because they contribute generously to Democrat politicians and causes, they are revered as though they were the salvation of the “working man.” The truth is just the opposite.
The article goes on to cite statistics showing that the number of private-sector unionized workers has now slipped below 8% of the workforce – its lowest level in many decades. My first thoughts were that there is no “war on unions”; unions simply make their employers unable to compete in the global economy, so companies must do what they must in order to remain competitive. That may involve outsourcing production operations to smaller, non-union companies, moving manufacturing operations to “right to work” states, or even moving them overseas. But it’s not a “war” on unions – it’s just a battle to survive.
But on a deeper level, nobody questions the basic rectitude of unions and union work in general any more. The fact is that unions are basically evil & destructive, and we should all keep that in mind when considering their complaints, actions, and demands.
Collective bargaining is a device that ensures mediocrity in the workplace by protecting the least productive employees and discouraging the most productive (or creative) from working to their potential. It compensates everyone according to a pre-negotiated scale, thus extinguishing any individual’s inclination to be more productive or to suggest improvements to the “line.” Every ambitious person who has ever started working in a union shop has experienced the call of co-workers telling them to “slow down, you will make everyone else look bad.” Collective Bargaining Agreements (“CBA’s”) not only seek to maximize compensation and benefits for the members – nothing wrong with that - but also promote “featherbedding” (retaining jobs where the function is no longer needed), and work rules that minimize efficiency in order to maximize the number of dues-paying workers. How can any employer in a competitive industry bear this burden (unless his competitors are also stuck with it)?
It is not surprising that the majority of “union” manufacturing companies from the 1960’s have gone bankrupt; they simply cannot survive in a competitive economy. The ones that remain have largely moved overseas or greatly revamped their operations to minimize the number of union employees. GM’s unionized workforce is a small fraction of what it was in the 1970’s, while making about the same number of vehicles. Unions FORCED GM to accelerate the move to robotics. (And of course the Unions DID force GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy, but Our Beloved President bailed them out).
Many of the fiscal problems facing our governments large and small are due to CBA’s negotiated by politically-connected appointees who really didn’t care how much they gave away, knowing that by the time the “chickens came home to roost” they would be long gone. And when private sector unions were forced to give back some of their most generous benefits, public sector unions just laughed and carried on; their employers didn’t have to worry about going bankrupt or not being “competitive.” Thus we have government workers (mainly teachers) making wages comparable to the highest available in the private sector, benefits better than any private sector employer could possibly afford to pay, and generous, early retirements (at age 52 or so) that will be draining the wallets of American taxpayers for generations. And we taxpayers, are providing this compensation – at the point of a gun – to people who are UNION members who can never be fired for incompetence, rarely disciplined, and rarely forced to do anything they don’t feel like doing.
The “founding fathers” of our collecting bargaining history were avowed communists, but in the 40’s and 50’s that term became rather inflammatory, so they take great pains now not to use it any more. But they are still communists/socialists, and always have been. That’s what collective bargaining IS: everyone gets the same.
The near-death of private sector unions is not a bad thing. They have cost Americans millions and millions of jobs over the past few decades, while ensuring that the few remaining union jobs remain relatively well-paid. But because they contribute generously to Democrat politicians and causes, they are revered as though they were the salvation of the “working man.” The truth is just the opposite.
