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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
The whole thing about unionizing is a separate issue from trade deals, though, and I think would exist even without that. Right to work and all that is a whole bunch of bullshit, and I'd respect Sanders a lot more of that was the kind of populist thing he was fighting for; our ability and right to unionize in order to leverage better wages against corporations. That in itself would be as valuable if not more as getting manufacturing back into the US.
I'd like to point out that Tactical Fox is the one calling Sanders a loser and all that; seems to have a bizarre hate on for the guy while most of are just kind of bleh on him.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/clinton-cabinet-positions-women
Hillary taking cues from Trudeau I see.
New Survey coming this weekend!Manufacturing jobs used to be shit too before unionization and minimum wages and whatnot. So it's not a unique property of service jobs that they suck compared to manufacturing jobs, but rather that service jobs haven't benefited from the same labor actions. In a sense, trade globalization has been a way for the business sector to trade down from unionized, highly regulated jobs to a much looser labor market.
The remedy, of course, is pretty straightforward: unionize and protect service sector jobs.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
That definitely happens. Here certainly (*cough* IEC workers' union *cough*) and no doubt in the States as well.
Unions do exist for service sector jobs in the US: [1]
. But how organized they really are or how much influence they have is questionable.
Most times, people will only join a union if it's a closed shop — meaning, if you want to work here, you have to join. Otherwise, they see little point in paying dues to a union that doesn't seem to do anything for them in return. Of course, the more union members there are in the workforce, the more clout the union has. It's sort of a Catch-22 situation.
edited 4th Jul '16 11:56:06 AM by pwiegle
This Space Intentionally Left Blank.Well, full regulation is the other option, but we know what's going to happen to that in the current Congress.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
By "full", I mean the basics like a living minimum wage, mandatory health insurance, vacation/sick leave, family leave, etc. And such legislation would never even come up for a vote in the Republican-controlled House and Senate.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/07/how-american-politics-went-insane/485570/
Fantastic article, but here's my favorite.
It's so spot on it's painful.
New Survey coming this weekend!
What we're witnesses isn't at all abnormal, nor unexpected. As much progress has been made in regards to social justice over the past thirty years, we have been in a slow and steady backslide in terms of economic justice for the past thirty years as organized labor, welfare systems, and regulatory agencies have been systematically discredited and dismantled. The Great Recession has resulted in a stagnation of this trend.
If you'll pardon the approaching Cliché Storm...
Whenever the economy takes a nosedive, the company bean-counters start slashing the budget while urging the workforce to "do more with less." It seldom works, for the simple reason that slash-and-burn economics won't keep you afloat in an increasingly competitive market. You have to spend money to make money; don't hoard your dwindling profits, re-invest them.
edited 4th Jul '16 8:07:28 PM by pwiegle
This Space Intentionally Left Blank.

Technically the TPP has passed. The issue is enforcement via ratification.
Also, of note from Fighteer's observation of one of Krugman's recent posts
, it appears Trade Deals don't destroy the volume of jobs available. But there is a hostile side effect: Unionized/Manufacturing jobs get gutted with every trade deal, and they get replaced with a Non-Unionized Service Sector job with poor to low benefits and reduced wage quality, from the looks of it.
So while Trade Deals might not take your ability to work away, you're likely to end up in a much more unsafe, miserable and poorer paying job every time one gets ratified and enforced.
In other words, one of the key problems here is regulatory and lobbyist capture of government officials, and the general refusal of the government to enforce regulations and backing of Unions since Nixon-Reagan.
edited 4th Jul '16 6:40:55 AM by PotatoesRock