Is Wal-Mart really — alone among large American retailers — a terrible blight on workers, families and communities as many politicians and “labor leaders” say? Or is the truth that Wal-Mart is a target merely because it makes no secret of the fact that it doesn’t want labor unions interfering with its smooth operations? Here is a good editorial in the Wall Street Journal that sheds a lot of light on that question.
Most people are conditioned to think of labor unions as organizations that are concerned only about the well-being of workers. Things look much different if you regard unions as a special kind of business, businesses that make money by acting as the middleman between the employee and employer. They are just as interested in maximizing the inflow of dues as others businesses are interested in maximizing profits. Understand that and the Wal-Mart jihad makes more sense.
