Skuzzy, note that one my sayings is "The only thing worse than a Union is ..... no Union."
I don't think one can view things so statically. The Management/Labor relationship is much more of a pendulum.
Like every pendulum, there is a period of extreme swing and then it slowly damps towards the middle. Until some force comes along and again pushes the pendulum to an extreme and the process starts all over again.
Which came first worker abuse or Unions? Abuse. Without the abuses, the sweat shops, the danger of the coal mines, etc., etc., the never would have been a "Union movement". Management pushed the pendulum to such an extreme point that another force arose and pushed it back.
Of course, Labor, in it's turn, pushed the pendulum to an extreme and .... we can all guess what happened next.
So, where are we now? Forces have combined to push the pendulum towards an extreme. Call it what you like, job outsourcing, CEO greed, "fair trade", "technological shift".... whatever you like. But the pendulum is swinging in favor of management once again.
The evidence is before us all in the form of lost jobs, reduced pay, reduced health care benefits, etc. Right now, because of the easy availability of cheap Labor in the world wide "free trade" market, American workers and/or Unions are essentially powerless. The jobs will simply be moved to Mexico or China or somewhere else if the Union "demands" are considered "too great".
Now, to say that we're not heading towards the pay/benefits of Chinese workers is sticking one's head in the sand. I did not say were were at that level, or that we would reach that level.
But it's clear which way the pendulum is swinging. Anyone hear of recent big pay raises/benefit improvements for large groups of American workers lately? No, the "talk" is the exact opposite of that. We hear of pay cuts and reduced benefits.
I will say this: the only thing that stands between the American worker and lower levels of pay and benefits are the Unions.
Make no mistake; I think Unions suck. I was in one for 23 years, worked in it, lived with it. However, I am not so naive as to think that American CEO's will look out for the American worker and improve the worker's lot if there were no Unions.
I totally agree. Unions had their place, and they were needed at one point in time. They served to solve a problem. A problem brought about by greed. They have, themselves, now become a problem due to greed.
Yet they will be needed again at a new point in time. The will again have their place. Because of a problem brought about by greed. This time, it will be management greed once again moving the pendulum.
Checks and balances.
"The only thing worse than a Union is ..... no Union."
