“You dont have to love…
"You dont have to love unions, you dont have to believe that their policy positions are always right, to recognize that theyre among the few influential players in our political system representing the interests of middle- and working-class Americans, as opposed to the wealthy."
I have never been a fan of “common sense” but Krugman won a Nobel Prize for displaying common sense, and he continues to do so consistently. Maybe I need to reassess my position.
The unions have become a favorite whipping boy these days to blame for ecomomic problems. When they were formed in the early 1900’s to protect coal miners, clothing factory workers, auto factory workers, there was a real need for an entity to stand up to the business moguls for their behavior.
Then somewhere along the line the unions found they had to force demands on the employers to keep their members happy paying the dues.
But we are back in an era when businesses are only too happy the cut benefits, eliminate pensions and downsize staff while maintaining the workload. So the unions will have to reinvent themselves to protect the existing jobs. Finding new jobs these days could involve emigrating to countries that have work outsourced from the US. The promise of job creation was so much smoke and mirrors by the newly elected congress.