Racist Poster

[giblets]

I don't remember it.

[giblets]

You ****ing ******, prospective new joiners to the company have to let the union ****ing negotiate for them. Therefore union members are not subject to price competition.

Okay, if replacing striking workers is illegal then they have a government granted monopoly.

[SlowwHand]

There may be some good points to advanced Alzheimer's.

[KrazyHorse]

Okay, if replacing striking workers is illegal then they have a government granted monopoly.

And if a company has to replace all its workers at once then it's not far off a ****ing monopoly. WE HAVE ALREADY DISCUSSED THIS. LEARN TO ****ING READ.

[KrazyHorse]

1) No, it's not. "Refusing to negotiate" with a union is an "unfair labor practice" in the US, which precludes an employer from permanently replacing striking workers. In addition, and ignoring this technicality,
2) I am quickly losing respect for you here. If I create a law saying that you can dismiss striking workers if you pay a trillion dollar fine then the effect is that you are locked into a monopolistic labor negotiation. When there are outs that are costly then it may not be a pure monopoly (specifically, if the competition from other firms is outweighed by the costs of dismissing all of your workers then the union cannot extract 100% of monopoly rents)

For ease of reference.

[giblets]

And if a company has to replace all its workers at once then it's not far off a ****ing monopoly. WE HAVE ALREADY DISCUSSED THIS. LEARN TO ****ING READ.

If the company can replace them all how are they a monopoly?

[KrazyHorse]

The SOLE POINT of a union is to create that barrier to competition. THAT IS ALL. That is why unions are a TERRIBLE ****ING IDEA.

[KrazyHorse]

If the company can replace them all how are they a monopoly?

Were you dropped on your head as a ****ing child? What would you call it if you were forced to purchase all of your manufactured goods from a single cartel of suppliers, unless you chose to replace EVERYTHING YOU OWNED AT ONCE from a group of COMPLETELY DIFFERENT COMPANIES?

The barrier to entry is SO HIGH that it is effectively a monopoly. MOREOVER, there is NO POINT to the organization OTHER than creating this barrier to entry. Therefore legal protections for unions are a BAD IDEA.

[giblets]

Okay, I'm not going to call it a monopoly but it does reduce the degree of competition laborers face. Point taken.

However it doesn't sound like such a terrible idea to me if the union members are poor. In that case making them richer at the expense of their employer and possibly consumers isn't necessarily such a bad thing. Yes, I know public sector workers are often not poor.

[Kuciwalker]

If the company can replace them all how are they a monopoly?

See post #370, ****.

[KrazyHorse]

IT IS NOT SOLELY AT THE EXPENSE OF "THEIR EMPLOYER"! JESUS ****ING CHRIST. IT IS ALSO AT THE EXPENSE OF PEOPLE WHO CONSUME THAT EMPLOYER'S PRODUCTS, AND PEOPLE WHO ARE SHUT OUT OF THE EMPLOYMENT IN QUESTION (unionization must decrease total amount of labor provided in order to raise the wage of those employed).

Moreover, I have no idea why you think that union members are poor. Especially in manufacturing they're usually better off than average.

Finally, I can see ABSOLUTELY NO REASON that we'd want to distort production against investment in heavy industry (and also distort the labor market) in order to accomplish a bit of redistribution, when the state is more than able to redistribute much more with much less distortion in other ways.

[Kuciwalker]

Okay, I'm not going to call it a monopoly but it does reduce the degree of competition laborers face. Point taken.

I guess you reserve the term monopoly for mythical, idealized things that couldn't possibly exist in the real world?

[KrazyHorse]

By the by, this is yet another opportunity to point out that capitalists are not rich and the rich are not capitalists

[Kuciwalker]

A large portion of union member earnings are investment income, actually.

[KrazyHorse]

Why does gribby want to steal money from pensioners to give to union members making 6 figures?