The Fallacy of Unionization
SEUI chief Andy Stern:
When you have higher wages, people aren't poor, they get to eat, they get to live a better life and have a social safety net.
That's the fallacy of unionization right there. People who have a job are better off. But what about people who don't have a job? They're not better off. They don't have higher wages -- they have no wages.
It's precisely those higher wages that keep them out of a job. An employer that can employee someone at $7.25 an hour might not be to employee them at $8.25 an hour. For a full-time employee, a difference of $1 an hour is a difference of $2,040 dollars a year. For small businesses that can be the difference between profitability and non-profitability.
Andy Stern says that Western Europe is a good model for America to follow. I wonder if he's thinking of Germany's 7.1% unemployment, Spain and Belgium's 8.1% unemployment, or France's 8.7% unemployment. While life is great for employed, unionized workers in those countries, it's terrible for the workers without a job.
Who are you most concerned about?