noose4
Senior Member
Only in the aggregate and only in the short term. An individual worker who is talented will make more on his own, negotiating his own compensation.So if you maintain that union jobs and non union jobs pay the same, then you have made the case there is no need for unions. Especially factoring union dues in.
Yet you have neglected to mention all the jobs lost because of unions. With high labor costs, subsituting capital makes more sense. So more work is automated. This is the origin of the term "union featherbedding" and unions fought automation tooth and nail.
Outsourcing occurs because unit labor costs are high. Note the term unit labor costs. But outsourcing would take place regardless. It is irrelevant to this discussion.
That case was not made by me, workers tend to get more in pay and benefits through collective bargaining(union) than they would negotiating wages and benefits by themselves.
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In the long term the company will adjust to higher labor costs by cutting back production and moving it elsewhere. Ask all those UAW workers in Detroit who have been unemployed for 10 years.
That just is not so, talented and non talented working people have remained stagnant or gone backwards financially the last few decades along with receiving less benefits and losing pensions and such.