Word: unionizers
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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This fall, SLAM’s cause du jour was security guard unionization. In what The Crimson called a “hard fought victory for the guards and student activists,” Harvard security guards subcontracted through AlliedBarton were allowed to form a union. SLAM celebrated, and The Crimson’s editorial board applauded the decision because the “University’s security guards…deserve a union”—a glorious victory in the eternal class struggle...
Unfortunately, actors on the national stage don’t seem to know any better than Harvard’s naïve students. Democrats are currently engaged in an effort to resuscitate moribund unions with the “Employee Free Choice Act,” a breathtaking piece of doublespeak. The bill, among other things, strips workers of their right to vote over unionization and instead mandates a “card check.” In other words, rather than having workers vote in a secret ballot monitored by the neutral National Labour Relations Board, a company...
...public petitions are, if anything, far more open to abuse than secret ballots. These cards are solicited by union organizers and signed in a face-to-face process that inherently involves intimidation and peer-pressure. If a half-dozen co-workers show up at your door (these cards can be signed anywhere) asking you to sign a pro-union petition, it’s hard to say no. Not only could union bosses watch as workers vote on unionization, they could also “explain” (read: misrepresent) workers’ rights and even control the actual cards...
Perhaps if strong unions were necessary, as they were in the age of violent Pinkerton guards, this measure could be justified. But modern unions are a relic of a bygone era. It’s no coincidence that many of the remaining union bastions—like the airline and auto industries—are struggling to stay afloat. In a competitive, global economy above-market wages systematically disadvantage unionized companies, which ultimately harms the workers too. And in other industries, such as healthcare and higher education, above market wages don’t lead to bankruptcy, but they...
Nationally, however, it is a different story. If artificially revived, unions do have the potential to cause significant economic damage. Admirably truthful, the late union organizer Samuel Gompers explained his union’s goal as an unending battle: “We do want more, and when it becomes more, we shall still want more. And we shall never cease to demand more.” Unfortunately, the end result is that as unions grab for an ever greater slice of the pie, the pie itself shrinks, leaving only crumbs for consumers, non-union workers, and the unemployed...