For most of my life I've taken a very skeptical approach to labor unions. I've sided with the "Free Market!" crowd, repeatedly falling victim to their talking points. I thought that labor unions were the reason that manufacturing moved abroad. I thought that labor unions were driving perfectly innocent corporations into the ground.
These days I'm no longer sure what I believe. I'm reasonably confident that there's no such thing as a perfectly innocent corporation, and I recognize that most manufacturing has moved abroad because corporations are more concerned with profit than with manufacturing jobs. That's called greed, and it's deadly.
In the debate over All Things Twinkie, namely the recent demise of Hostess, the "Free Market!" righties all point to the Baker's Union as the reason for the demise of Hostess. I wonder what these folks would say to the article reporting that the Twinkie CEO Admits Company Took Employees Pensions and Put It Toward Executive Pay.
The article shows how Hostess executives profited by the company's demise, and will likely continue to profit from the pensions of the wage slaves.
I'm not ready to join a union anytime soon, but I no longer believe the lie that unions are to blame for so many of our economic woes.
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