I had no idea Scott Walker was so popular

[Kuciwalker]

What if you live in a state with so called 'right to work' legislation. After you accept a job, you can be told your hours, compensation, benifits will be going down to save the company/government money.

Tell them you won't continue working for the new hours/compensation/benefits. If they keep going then get a new job. See how simple this is?

[kentonio]

Tell them you won't continue working for the new hours/compensation/benefits. If they keep going then get a new job. See how simple this is?

Are there always new comparible jobs available for every persons skillset? Is it not also quite likely that if all employers follow the same pattern, that wages will fall across the board, leaving you **** out of luck at finding a better paid job?

Why do you think unions came into existence in the first place?

[Kuciwalker]

Are there always new comparible jobs available for every persons skillset?

Guess what? The entire purpose of unions is to make sure comparable jobs aren't available, so they can sustain higher wages for the people in the union.

[kentonio]

Guess what? The entire purpose of unions is to make sure comparable jobs aren't available, so they can sustain higher wages for the people in the union.

That's certainly not the entire purpose of a union.

[Full disclosure: I've long been an opponent of undue union power]

Unions exist to prevent undue exploitation of workers by employers, and despite their excesses, improper political power, and adverse effects on non-union members, the existence of unions has been proven to be essential. The only way you can safely get rid of unions is if you codify worker protections into law, otherwise you just leave working class people to the mercy of capitalism and they get screwed every time.

Seriously, if you have a system where an employer can just slash someones wages, increase their hours and sack them on a whim, then the working man is utterly dependant on that employer and incredibly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. The only way unions don't make sense is if you believe that business owners will act decently and reasonably at all times, and if you believe that then I have a bridge in Alaska to sell you.

[Kuciwalker]

Unions exist to prevent undue exploitation of workers by employers

No. They exist to raise the wage of members of the union, full stop, by limiting the company's ability to hire new employees.

[kentonio]

Unions exist to prevent undue exploitation of workers by employers

No. They exist to raise the wage of members of the union, full stop, by limiting the company's ability to hire new employees.

Sorry but you're being silly. Go back and read up on how and why unions came into being, and the horrible exploitations of workers by business owners. As I said I've long criticized unions for a host of different things, but the idea that they only exist for such a narrow reason is just daft.

[molly bloom]

Unions exist to prevent undue exploitation of workers by employers

No. They exist to raise the wage of members of the union, full stop, by limiting the company's ability to hire new employees.

This is very funny. Do you write much in the way of comedy ?

[Fake Boris]

Though Kuci has improved over the years, he still has outbursts of HCism.

[regexcellent]

More like he understands econ better than most everyone else on this board.

[Fake Boris]

At the expense of common wisdom.

[giblets]

Common where? In some parts of the US it's common wisdom that unions are bad for everyone except their members.

[Fake Boris]

Wisdom about common things.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Though Kuci has improved over the years, he still has outbursts of HCism.

This is unfortunately true.

[Kuciwalker]

Sorry but you're being silly. Go back and read up on how and why unions came into being, and the horrible exploitations of workers by business owners. As I said I've long criticized unions for a host of different things, but the idea that they only exist for such a narrow reason is just daft.

It doesn't matter what nice stories you tell yourself. Demand curves slope down and supply curves slope up.

[Fake Boris]

It doesn't matter what nice stories you tell yourself. Workers were randomly beaten down by the police and disposed of like garbage when they lost an arm in a work accident.