Do a lot of our present economic problems originate with unions?

Question

For decades labor unions dominated the labor front, particularly in manufacturing businesses. They demanded and received wages and benefits FAR in excess of what the market would otherwise bear. As a result the cost of US labor became far excessive when compared to that of other countries. Now that we have entered an international economy era this equates to jobs going overseas and goods being bought overseas. So, in my view labor unions have directly caused the present high unemployment and horrible balance of trade. Agree? Disagree? Why?

Answer 1

Yes sir they have been corrupted and economy killing for so long now the best thing to do is disband them

Answer 2

We are dealing with a global economy, and yet we have parochial labor unions that only impact the cost of goods and services in one country, ours. So, yes they can cause bulges in labor supply and demand curves. They also contribute to some of the balance of trade issues.



On the other hand, our current economic woes may be traced directly back to Barney Frank, his lover over at Fannie May, and the democrats in control in the late 90s. They created the whole sub-prime mortgage mess by strong arming banks into making questionable loans to people who couldn't really afford them. Look back over the past 14 months or so, and you'll see that the prime mover in the current economic crunch was the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

Answer 3

During the "good years" unions wanted a taste of the abundant wealth.



That wealth is gone and they need to get back to the basics like a livable wage, employee abuse and decent health care.



If we let them die we will surely be working for $2/hr in the near future. I'm sure industry will have the power to overturn the minimum wage if they have no resistance from unions.

Answer 4

No! Our labor Unions need to be bolstered and sent overseas to bring other nations up to our labor and environmental standards. How can we compete otherwise?



The answer of course is that we can't effectively compete. America's working class as been taking a hell of a beating as a result.



Why do we Americans allow American businesses to exploit other nations labor and environment? Many that are exploited are children.



Notice how the capitalist shift there shameful exploitations by blaming our labor unions.



Btw, why do republicans agree with big business that the working class should not have a say about their destiny?

Answer 5

No.



Unions have never dominated the ownership of industry, but they have certainly affected wages and policy. They have increased wages beyond what a union-free market would offer, but certainly not more that it would bear. Otherwise the industry would simply cease to exist.



The U.S. does not have higher production costs compared to all other countries, only when compared to developing countries and even then only in unskilled labor.



If you want to match the cheap production cost of, say, textile workers in Thailand, you'll have to return to the days of 14-hour shifts, unlivable wages and lost fingers and hands. Is that what you envision for the American worker?



You fix this problem in two ways: 1) require developing nations (or the corporation that use them) to comply with labor standard that more closely resemble our own, and 2) focus on education and creating more skilled labor positions in the U.S.

Answer 6

Union individuals account for basically 9% of the finished artwork rigidity in the US. with a view to blame them is ridiculous. i could say grasping and corrupt company leaders and politicians could probable rank up severe on the record of who to blame.

Answer 7

Have you thought about corporate greed? How dare people make a reasonable living, for a reasonable days work. Should we all work for minimum wage?

Answer 8

Look at Europe between the years of the ending of WWI and the start of WWII.

Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler were all leaders of workers unions.

And look at how many millions of people had died of that consequence.

Europe was undergoing the same kind of economic depression as the US was having.

Granted our unions didn't kill millions to be in power, but the unions were no more than mafia thugs attempting to gain power and get rich.

Answer 9

Unions certainly have had influence on skewing the cost of labor against this country. But the problem is way beyond them. Minimum wage laws alone skew the cost of labor, regardless of whether one is in a union. If you make minimum wage in the US, you make more money per day than over half the world's people.

Answer 10

No, the lack of them have decimated the working class.Unions are not the blame for millionaires and their cravings for cheap exploitable labor and land in foreign markets.If you want to blame someone blame the elite who control our government which favors corporations over the individual.

Answer 11

I'm not sure was Americas golden age when unions were strong or when they came under attack since 1980

Answer 12

Absolutely. It becomes pretty obvious when you consider that the largest number of unionized employees work for City, State and Federal Governments.



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Answer 13

Unions were a part of the reason the domestic automakers are no longer competitive but that is just a small factor in our current economic "dislocation".

Answer 14

yes

Answer 15

scab.