Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 00:24:44 -0500 From: Chuck0 <chuck-AT-tao.ca> Subject: Objectivists and anarchy For those of you who are having problems waking up on Monday morning: Anarchist Illusions by Roy A. Childs, Jr. http://www.dailyobjectivist.com/Extro/Econ/Anarchist/anarchist.htm Surprise, surprise, the objectivists are anti-labor: LABOR LOSING CLOUT Appearances can be deceiving. The mass demonstrations of labor and other lefty groups in Seattle, Washington a few weeks back, plus the recent fear of a transit strike in New York City, might give the impression that labor unions are going strong and making a comeback. But fact is, they're practically impotent as measured by their ability to call strikes. "The calculus of labor relations is indeed different these days," says the Wall Street Journal. "Workers have become shareholders. Technology and globalization can put jobs at risk even when a union has 'job security' written into the contract." Plus, prospective union members are loath to suffer the economic consequences of a prolonged strike. Despite a slight uptick in union membership in 1998, when it reached 780,000, that's still less than half the 1.6 million total membership of 1970. The number of strikes involving 1000 or more workers has declined from an average of 337 big strikes per year between 1947 and 1957, to only 36 big strikes on average per year between 1990 and 1998. The caterwauling and hooliganism of Seattle were acts of desperation, not confidence. (See "Why Labor Unions Have Grown Reluctant to Use the 'S' Word," Wall Street Journal, December 16, 1999.) -- Chuck0 http://flag.blackened.net/chuck0/home/ Dr. Laura is scared of this sig file +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Mid-Atlantic Infoshop http://www.infoshop.org/ Spunk Library http://www.spunk.org/ "All the anarchy you'll ever need, organized neatly and with reassuring authority." -- 1998 Rough Guide to the Internet FREE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL AND LEONARD PELTIER! +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
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