What happens if America loses its unions???

S

signalmankenneth

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...s-its-unions/2012/06/12/gJQA1d7UYV_print.html

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Don't most union members typically picket their company, or just sit on their asses and collect bloated pay checks?
 
Yurt said:
bar associations don't negotiate job contracts, benefits etc...they are not the same tom.
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I would suggest that they have many of the characteristics of a union.

But while membership rolls for the traditional unions might be on the decline, it's a mistake to assume that they're going away, or that labor struggles are a thing of the past. What's actually happening is that they're evolving to fit the times. Let's just take a recent example. The popular website Zillow was recently dinged in Arizona for not having a real estate appraiser's license, and a state board ruled that it was not allowed to give out home value estimates in the state. It seems absurd that a website would need a special license to give out data, but the board was made up of professional real estate appraisers that were worried about Zillow hurting their business. Essentially, when it comes to real estate appraisers, Arizona is a closed shop state. Either you have to be licensed, or you can't operate. You can probably see where this is heading, that there really isn't any meaningful difference between what a traditional union might do, in terms of looking out for the welfare of its members, and what the group of professional appraisers have done.

Now most people would see the above example as fairly cut and dry. The professional appraisers are engaging in monopoly rent seeking to keep a website that competes with them from operating. But that group is just one example of a modern union. Many other professions have similar setups whereby a professional organization-cum-regulatory body is in the position to decide who can or cannot engage in a particular line of work, and on what terms they're allowed to do their job. Other examples of these groups include the Bar Association, the AMA and the National Association of Realtors. To give a quick legal-related example, an insurance agent was recently found guilty of the "unauthorized practice of law" because she helped a client draw up a will using Quicken software. This case was decided on existing laws, but they were laws nonetheless crafted to help lawyers preserve their monopoly on will making.

Over a series of posts, I will argue that these groups are best thought of as unions, just like the UAW, and that significant and difficult labor battles loom on the horizon. As the share of our GDP that goes to things like healthcare and legal services continues to climb, the market will inevitably produce new technologies designed to automate the tasks of highly paid practitioners. As such, groups like the AMA and the Bar will increasingly find themselves standing athwart these technologies, and other low-cost solutions in the interest of their membership, just as a union would in the face of similar conditions. Let me state at the outset that this basic idea isn't a new one. The famous economist Milton Friedman was hated by the AMA for arguing that the control it exerted over the medical industry was preventing patients from getting low-cost care. So, much of this series will draw on the ideas of others. But it will hopefully convey a sense of urgency, by explaining that this isn't merely an academic issue, but something that needs to be examined and dealt with now.
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http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20...nal-unions-labor-struggles-21st-century.shtml
 
Yurt said:
bar associations don't negotiate job contracts, benefits etc...they are not the same tom.
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they are like the ama - a closed shop

try being a doctor without joining the ama

and both have a heavy lobbying presence

professional organizations definitively have a direct impact on wages and benefits of their membership even though they do not negotiate directly for their membership

oh well
 
i didn't say they don't share characteristics. but they are not unions. they don't function as unions. the primary function of unions is to negotiate contracts, jobs, benefits etc....bar associations do not do any of that.
 
Don Quixote said:
they are like the ama - a closed shop

try being a doctor without joining the ama

and both have a heavy lobbying presence

professional organizations definitively have a direct impact on wages and benefits of their membership even though they do not negotiate directly for their membership

oh well
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yes they do. they do not have a direct impact on wages and benefits. that is not true. further, that doesn't make them unions.
 
Don Quixote said:
they are like the ama - a closed shop

try being a doctor without joining the ama

and both have a heavy lobbying presence

professional organizations definitively have a direct impact on wages and benefits of their membership even though they do not negotiate directly for their membership

oh well
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There is one important point that needs to be considered, many politicians are drawn from the ranks of the judiciary. They, like foxes, don't shit in their own backyards!!
 
Aoxomoxoa said:
There is one important point that needs to be considered, many politicians are drawn from the ranks of the judiciary. They, like foxes, don't shit in their own backyards!!
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more politicians are drawn from the ranks of lawyers and i am not going to repeat here the multitude of lawyer jokes

and lawyers are noted for taking a dump on whoever they are paid to take a dump on

bummer
 
Yurt said:
apples and oranges share characteristics....what is the old adage about apples and oranges?
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I would be more impressed with that argument if there were alternatives. For instance, in California, can you practice law if you are not a member of the CBA and are there any rival organisations?
 
Aoxomoxoa said:
I would be more impressed with that argument if there were alternatives. For instance, in California, can you practice law if you are not a member of the CBA and are there any rival organisations?
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no. no.

now, do they negotiate contracts, employment benefits etc? you're trying to make them the same when they clearly are not.
 
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