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- cross-posted to:
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Please add CEO wage and shareholder dividends to clarify the point
I think the decline in union membership is a symptom more than a cause. The late seventies, early eighties is where we saw industrial automation start to really take off. As actual skilled labour got handed over to automated processes, unions lost power (the political union busting also played a huge part), since their members biggest chip was the difficulty in replacing them if they all leave.
The decline in union membership was very much due to an intentional attack by Reagan and the Republicans. Until Reagan, the National Labor Relations Board had been composed of mostly career government lawyers. They were replaced with people who had spent their careers representing management. They aggressively reversed precedents and narrowed workers rights.
https://onlabor.org/ronald-reagan-has-shaped-u-s-labor-law-for-decades/
Reagan accelerated what was already coming. Automation completely changes the balance of power in labour negotiations. Previously, unions had power because skilled labour is very expensive and time consuming to replace. If you automate the “skilled” portion of that equation, companies immediately become much more willing to simply shut a plant and move production elsewhere.
US Steel was one of the largest union employers and helped cause this current anti-union trend because it was run by lazy, stupid executives that didn’t think they needed to adopt new technology or improve yields, quality, and profitability.
They died because the Japanese steel imports were better quality and cheaper, owing to their use of new technology as part of their MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry) investments during the 70s and 80s. It’s also why Japan took off in technology and became the economic powerhouse it is today - that started because their government forced companies to invest in new technology and processes.
Western companies grow complacent with their approach to business and getting conservatives to lead companies, rejecting new ideas or outside influences as “not for us”. Laziness and willful ignorance killed the businesses that used unions. Unions need to force change from within if they want to become and stay relevant.
Interesting thoughts. Sounds like exactly what happened to American auto manufacturing. We thought we were the best ever, got lazy, got our asses kicked by Japan.
