Unions - Dead Men Walking

In the physical world it is an axiom that for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction. Such is not the case in society. Actions may engender much greater or lesser reactions, immediate or postponed reactions, or no reaction at all. In America unions have "evolved" from creating a big reaction to being just a small blip on the societal seismograph. Because of a variety of factors unions have achieved the ultimate nirvana of working themselves out of a job. They have at least partially become victims of their own success. Yet somehow they fail to acknowledge this and continue to persist.

So why single out unions? Well because they say they are for "the working man". Few people would buy that line if it came from a government. Even fewer would buy it coming from a corporation, especially a multi-national corporation. Yet many people, especially those who voluntarily join a union, buy this line all day from union leaders/apparatchiks. People are people. Power corrupts especially when it is unchecked whether it comes under the umbrella of government, a corporate hierarchy, or a labor union bureaucracy. When unions became powerful years ago they were needed and performed, in at least some cases, a valuable service. That service was advocating safer working conditions in some inherently dangerous occupations in the mining and manufacturing industries. Under these circumstances union membership greatly expanded.

But then a funny thing happened on the way to the Forum, make that Kremlin, the movement was hijacked by demented and power-hungry sociopaths. Workers of the world unite became just another form of tyranny called communism. In America this labor movement malfunction came in another form, mob meets union, mob likes what it sees, and mob takes over union to make a pile of money off the working man. "Mob" can be used individually or collectively whenever piles of money are given to people without their having to actually produce anything which might favorably benefit the economy or society in general. Mix in how this mob can work the system to their own benefit to avoid taking blame for their actions or shirk the responsibility of being a productive member of society. This puts them in the category of being just another form of entitlements administration and receipt (welfare, food stamps, medicare, corporate bankruptcy protection, etc.). Union "leaders" today have it made. Especially so are those in "agency shop" situations. Union bureaucracy lines its collective pockets with voluntary contributions and involuntary levies which it then uses almost exclusively to perpetuate its existence. Now unions are just a punch line much like the old joke about the evangelist who was asked why he constantly appeared on television and answered "To raise money" and was then asked why he needed to raise money and answered "To appear on television".

Today all of the major reasons as to why unions were created have been co-opted by government. What with OSHA, EPA, and the other alphabet soup of Federal, State, and local regulatory agencies looking out for worker safety unions have become irrelevant.

So what has been the reaction to this perversion of a once noble idea? Illegal immigration for one thing. Businesses have chafed at the influence of unions for years. One way to undercut the union apprenticeship programs in construction, for example, is to hire illegals to do the jobs "Americans don't want". By so doing the young laborers who used to start out in the trades right out of high school are shut out. This is aided and abetted by the myth that earning an honest living can only be achieved by obtaining a college degree. Somehow it is beneath our sons and daughters to build or improve the houses that are to be occupied by the favored class of college degree holders. Plumbing doesn't work? Simple, just write a check and some lackey will fix it for you.