Adventures in Union Marketing
The Asbestos Workers Union (didn’t realize there was such a thing) is taking the shock-and-awe approach to raising awareness for its services by erecting a couple of coffins on Flushing Avenue this morning. Evidently, there’s some contractor or another with headquarters inside the Navy Yard that has yet to see the wisdom of paying top…
The Asbestos Workers Union (didn’t realize there was such a thing) is taking the shock-and-awe approach to raising awareness for its services by erecting a couple of coffins on Flushing Avenue this morning. Evidently, there’s some contractor or another with headquarters inside the Navy Yard that has yet to see the wisdom of paying top dollar for their services. For a view inside the coffins, click through to the jump. Update: A reader sent in a scan of one of the flyers that the protesters are now handing out. You can view it here.
“Can someone convert that to a soccer analogy for me?”
Sure, I’ll try. It’s like you are shopping for a purse and your high heels get stuck in a grate, and instead of having to fix them you just go straight to the nearest shoe store and buy a new pair.
Oh, and just to be clear, by “read David Ricardo” I mean actually read David Ricardo. Don’t just skim the Wikipedia entry on David Ricardo and then come try to debate with me as if you understand the subject matter. Sorry for how that sounds, but we have had some issues with that sort of thing here lately.
“Born on third base and think they hit a triple.”
Can someone convert that to a soccer analogy for me?
Folks;
Had to go to the dentist (no cavities, ma!) so I missed the latter part of party.
I think Lech has covered the bases pretty well, but let me just emphasize one more point. I say this in all sincerity to Guvna, who, despite being wrong on this issue, seems well-intentioned. The point is simply this: in advanced economies today, manufacturing is but a small part of wealth creation. I say this as someone who is a “hardware engineer”, and has a natural affinity for making “stuff”. Probably the best example of this is the Apple IPOD and IPAD. These devices have created enormous wealth in the US. That wealth creation came about from the intellectual property that was created, NOT from its manufacture. Apple can well afford to outsource its manufacture to FoxCon in Taiwan, because it’s not where it is going to make its money. Guvna, don’t you think that the IPOD and IPAD have created alot of middle-class jobs here in the US (software engineers, product designers, etc.)?
It looks to me like a win-win: a huge amount of wealth created in the US, and a nice pile of change for poorer folks in Asia looking to improve their lot.
Jaguar is typical of the type who wants to be hall monitor in grade school.
Nothing to actually add to the conversation, just a busy body.
“So glad to see that this delightful blog filled with gentrifiers is also rabidly anti-union as evidenced by several recent threads. Limousine liberals. Born on third base and think they hit a triple.”
Jaguar – Guvna has been fun to talk to. You, on the other hand, can suck my left nut.
Guvna:
I disagree with your premise that all manufacturing will simply go overseas because labor is cheaper. It is simply not true that all manufacturing will go overseas if we don’t “protect” it. Low-end manufacturing like textiles certainly has, and frankly we’re better of for it. But there is plenty of other manufacturing that is more appropriately done here because it relies on a more skilled worker base. The Boeing 777, for example, cannot be assembled sensibly in Thailand. They just don’t have workers with the kind of training required for those tasks. No, the Thais should be making my t-shirts, and we’re all much better off having 777s made in Washington state and t-shirts made in Thailand.
Also, you are so focused on manufacturing that you are missing what is actually a bigger piece of our economy: services. Our services economy has benefited hugely from trade.
Finally, you just can’t have it both ways. You can’t say you don’t want to stop trading and at the same time say you want to protect industries with artificial barriers just because labor is cheaper somewhere else. Those positions are inconsistent. Pick one.
Your position is fundamentally to avoid change and protect workers from competition. Time and time again this has been a failing strategy. We should embrace change, compete, and win.
Read David Ricardo, then come back and discuss.
So glad to see that this delightful blog filled with gentrifiers is also rabidly anti-union as evidenced by several recent threads. Limousine liberals. Born on third base and think they hit a triple.
Last point: Lech is right that this is not about Unions anymore. The same wage issues would exist regardless. We have a higher standard and cost of living which requires higher wages than those paid in emerging countries. The fact that we are losing a large number of those jobs to overseas operations is the issue in focus here. They produce things cheaper than we can by paying far less than we do, and then sell it to us for far less than we can. And we let them.