Someone needs to do some review of the effect that unions had on the Big 3 American Auto industry back in the 60's-70's and how it led to the dominance of import cars in the 80's.
Back in the 60's, the big 3 were making money hand over fist and it was cheaper to just give in to the unions over and over again. By the late 70's, American auto workers were so highly
over-paid (my FIL was one of them) that the companies became unprofitable. To hedge against this, they cut corners in quality to keep costs down. They also had workmanship going down the toilet because the UAW was invincible and could retain 100% of union members regardless of the problems. Enter the imports with lower cost, higher quality, better workmanship and the rest is history.
I also have several uncles who worked in the aerospace industry back in the 60's-70's. Over and over the unions bargained away benefits in order to gain a 25 cent hourly increase (the dues were based on the percentage of income not counting benefits).
Unions had (and in some cases still have) a legitimate reason to exist. Forcing a part-time teenage bag boy to join is protection racketeering at its best. Can you honestly say the union cars if the kid works for less than minimum wage or loses his job?
