Thomas Sowell writes one of his typically excellent columns on what will probably become a campaign issue — the “working poor.” You can read it here.
I would only add a bit to Sowell’s debunking of this phony issue. The notion that labor unions would make a big difference for the working poor is part of leftist mythology. In response to the nutty idea that we could help the working poor by making it easier to form labor unions, Sowell observes that it’s already quite easy to form unions. But even if we made it easier still (Big Labor has been pushing legislation to allow for unionization just on the basis of signed cards rather than a secret ballot), union bosses have no magic wand to make wage and benefit increases appear out of thin air. Where unions do manage to drive compenstion above market levels (at least for those who keep their jobs) is in circumstances where the workers have a high degree of skill and investors have put in a lot of highly specific assets. The airlines are a good example. On the other hand, most of the working poor are employed in small, highly competitive businesses where costs have to be pared to the bone if the firm is to survive. (Think of the food service industry, for instance.) Forcing low-wage workers to pay dues for union representation won’t make them better off.
Elsewhere, Sowell has written, “Before one can be a partisan of the poor, one must first be a partisan of the truth.” The truth is that collective bargaining can do little or nothing to increase wages for workers under competitive conditions.
