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Old 05-10-2008, 04:45 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by White Fox View Post
Labor unions are monopolies on labor in a certain industry or factory. The workers come together and decide what the price of their labor should be, and then try to get what they want through refusing to work and keeping other people from working in the factory by physically preventing them through sit-in strikes, or picketing in lines around the factory to prevent strike-breakers from coming in to work, or they do it through intimidation or legislation. In this way, a labor union is no different than a large corporation with a monopoly on a certain good. Suppose a single corporation produced all the food in the country, and it could prevent other people from selling food by buying them up or by other means. They could then set the price of food higher than what it's worth to make a profit. This is exactly what labor unions do with labor, and it should be illegal. All monopolies should be illegal except for natural monopolies that have to be monopolies in their respective industries, and these should be regulated by the government. They restrict trade and mess with the system of supply-and-demand where everything is worth what people are willing to pay for the supply that is provided at the price that establishes an equilibrium.
Labor unions are the free right of citizens to assemble in groups. It is furthermore the natural response in a marketbased economy of employees to the implicit advantage of employers.

In Denmark some 90% of the labor market is unionized and has been for many, many years. And we are still as competative as ever. In fact we are currently booming and are in severe need of skilled laborers.
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