Collective Action Is Ok For Bosses But Not For Workers
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In Silicon Valley, this argument was expressed in a flood of old emails from top executives at major companies such as Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe. As reported by my PandoDaily colleague Mark Ames, the correspondence released in court proceedings shows those executives agreeing to avoid hiring away employees from one another.
Remember, many of the companies these executives represent are hostile to the ideas of worker solidarity, collective bargaining and unionization. Yet, their emails assert that CEOs’ collective decision to ignore anti-trust statutes and distort the labor market should be considered perfectly acceptable. Why? Because, of course, their cartel's anti-competitive structure probably saved those executives money by driving down workers’ wages.
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In response to Northwestern University football players recently voting to form a union, the NCAA insisted that college athletes have "no right" to collectively bargain or to be paid for their revenue-generating services on the field. Instead, the NCAA says it retains the only rights to collective action in the college sports ecosystem. More specifically, the NCAA argues that while the kids are not entitled to collective representation, major universities are permitted to collude to prevent players from being paid for their work.
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Then there is the political arena, where Tennessee's Republican elected officials threatened collective action against the right of their constituents to form a union. Indeed, back in February, GOP legislators suggested that proposed tax incentives for Volkswagen might be revoked if the company allowed its employees to join the United Auto Workers.
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http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/04/labor_markets_double_standards.html