The Big Picture on the Transit Strike in New York

Gary North has written a great piece on how to understand the transit strike and unions:

The modern trade union movement is the product of special legislation. Businesses are compelled by law to honor unions that receive a majority vote by employees. Employees are then able to gain above-market wages because businesses are forbidden by law to make offers to potential employees who would otherwise underbid the unionized workers. These would-be employees are referred to by union members as "scabs." The idea of competitive, open-entry bidding is anathema to trade unions.

The trade union movement is not a pro-labor movement. It is an anti-labor movement. It exists in order to benefit a minority of workers at the expense of a majority of would-be workers who would be willing to work for less, but who are prohibited by law from being allowed to.

It was in this context that [the late]Mike Quill shut down the transportation system of New York City. It was the employer, and as a tax-funded, coercive entity, its administrators did not want their monopoly over the city's transportation system visibly called into question by another coercive, state-created organization.

Monopolists resent any attempt by other monopolists to horn in on their market share. Quill and the TWU were trying to extract a portion of the city's share of its monopoly returns. This was regarded by the city's administrators with the same enthusiasm that Bugs Moran regarded Al Capone.

You'll want to read the whole thing.Gary North obviously doesn't live in the declining state of New York.