It isn’t only the stratospheric hourly wages and benefits the UAW wrung out of the Big Three that now have them at the brink of bankruptcy, but also work rules that retard efficiency. Here’s an enlightening blog post making that point.
The same thing is true in construction. Unionized construction has a hard time competing with non-union because the latter can make more efficient use of workers. You don’t find the “Hey — that’s not my job” mentality that unionized firms are famous for.
Next year, Congress will debate the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, which is meant to grease the rails for Big Labor to fasten itself onto more companies and dragoon more workers into the dues-paying ranks. Since American firms face increasingly stiff international competition in many industries, is it really a good idea to promote unionization? Shouldn’t we be looking for ways to help them become more efficient, not saddling them with a parasitic entity that will make them less efficient?
