One common misconception with labor unions is that unions themselves are responsible for higher wages, better health care, more fruitful pensions, etc. The is that while unions can agitate for such things, it’s ultimately up to the company to provide these types of things. We are reminded of this basic truth when we read a Wall Street Journal story today that paints a very grim picture of contract negotiations with major employers in the upcoming year. The bottom line is that right now is quite possibly the worst time to negotiate with a company. The end result is that a lot of these contract negotiations are probably going to go poorly for organized labor. Companies are simply not going to be able to afford to give more and more in tough economic times. This is doubly bad for labor unions because their entire foundation is premised upon the idea that they can do a better job of securing higher wages and benefits than individual employees can. Watching the heavily unionized car industry go down in a ball of flames followed by lackluster contract negotiations at other major unionized employers is not the type of representation that unions want to show to prospective members. It might lead many employees to – reasonably – wonder, “Why should I sign up for a union in the first place?”
