So What?

The NLRB (National Labor Relation Board) is suing Boeing, and I’m mad as hell about it. The NLRB says that Boeing is opening a new plant to build the Dreamliner 787 in South Carolina, instead of the Seattle area,  to retaliate against the IAMAW (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) for, among other things, “past strikes.†I say, so what? The key words here should be “collective bargaining.†The unions have a perfect right to bargain collectively. The unions’ greatest power in such bargaining is their right to strike collectively if the bargaining doesn’t go their way. I see absolutely nothing wrong with that. But, dadgummit, if unions have a right to quit working, employers should have the right to quit employing. That seems simple to me. I didn’t dream that up on my own, but learned it from a Who’s Who economics prof and dean, Dr. Hugh Macaulay. He taught me at Clemson University in the early 1960s, and, as a friend and mentor, he continued to teach me during the four decades that followed. This suit is fraught with other arguments pro and con, but none so important—to me at least—and over riding as that basic argument: If workers can withhold labor, employers should be able to withhold jobs. Yes, I really do believe that. If unions threaten a lack of workers, why shouldn’t employers be able to threaten a lack of jobs? Boeing owes it to stockholders and customers to build great aircraft as cheaply as possible. If it doesn’t, the free market will eliminate Boeing. If great aircraft can be built more cheaply in South Carolina than in Washington State, perhaps the unions should figure out how to change that. Why is that so hard for people to understand? We’d love to post your comments. Please click the comment tab at the top.