Are Labor Unions Going Down For the Count?
Fully 50% of all compensation now is earned by the top one-tenth of all Americans. By contrast, workers’ real wages have now decreased some 13% in real terms since Jimmy Carter was president.
On the other hand, working people in Europe’s democracies face nothing comparable. Economic times are just as tough but unions are still an integral part of society and the political process. In a sense they benefit from a long tradition exemplified in a social contract—a bond of respect among labor, government, business and farmers.