Unions

I have been thinking about Unions in America again. A lot of publicity has been given to the union drive for new regulations making it easier to unionize American companies, I think this is the opposite way that our regulations should be going.

I still believe that Unions have a place in capitalism and the US Economy but I feel that we have given them too much power as things currently stand. Their exemption from the anti-trust regulations needs to be tempered. It should be illegal for a union to represent workers across firms! If one firm is paying more the workers will tend to gravitate in that direction irregardless forcing greater costs on the 'cheap' firm and bringing them into line.

The auto industry is the shining example of why I feel this way. When the existing regulations were first implemented I don't question their value and legitimacy but I think the time has come for a change. One Union should not contain all of the auto workers in America and have the power to play one companies employees off against another companies. The UAW was well known for picking a target and forcing them into submission by striking the target and letting the remaining US firms operate to force the target to submit and then once they did using this as a cudgel to beat the other companies into falling in line. At the same time, it was illegal for the auto companies to band together and resist the union pressure being applied.

Unions should be allowed to represent the workers from one company and one company only. Any cooperation across unions should be treated as cooperation across firms and deemed illegal.

At the same time I feel that out marketplace needs to place greater emphasis upon its workers, a consideration that has not been totally forgotten but is easily placed behind the interest of shareholders, especially institutional shareholders demanding maximum corporate profits. Karl Marx will probably smile at this suggestion but I feel that companies should be required to contribute a minimum percentage of their yearly profits to a bonus pool for their employees. Guaranteed compensation is important but so is a strong company that can weather downturns as well as profit during growth periods. Penalties can be applied to firms in the form of increased tax rates on profits if a minimum percentage of profits is not awarded to the firms employees each year. This requirement should be made into law and not require the impetus of a union to 'earn' it for the employees. General language should be included preventing wily operators from outsourcing everything and then claiming there are no employees, janitors are as deserving as everyone else.

I further believe that many American companies have lost the recognition that they have a significant impact upon their communities. Deductions for charitable donations should be deductible at a shifting scale based upon the percentage of profits contributed to communities and charitable causes, the greater the percentage the greater the deduction. For example, a firm that donates 1% of profits to charity might get to deduct 20% of this from their reportable profits while one that donates 10% can deduct it in full. For balance the percentage contributed should likely be a rolling average over a period of years or somehow normalized so that firms are incentivized to maintain contributions during down periods to smooth out the effects to recipients.

Yes, I am a registered Republican but I have always considered myself to lean to the left within the Republican party and I feel that a lot of Americans and perhaps other nationalities would agree with these views. This thought is a fairly new concept to me although it has come about as the result of considerable thought on the subject so I can't spell out the specific details and promise not to adjust my views as new facts come to my attention.

Would the politicians in America, or anywhere, have the fortitude to stand behind these ideas? We shall see. There needs to be a balance between corporate interests, employees and society. Government was designed to provide the rules and regulations to maintain this balance, lets hope it can do so now.

President Obama's stance on the US Auto Industry is laudable although I don't feel he really had any choice. A lot of political goodwill is being utilized to take the position that he and his team have selected. I wish them the best of luck and hope they don't attempt to compensate Unions by bowing to their demands for more power when it was their existing power that forced the President to take the stand he has.

May the debate rage!