Unions: Just Before The Dawn?

I got the idea for this post while perusing Betsy Newmark's fine blog. This post extends the comment I made on this post.

Betsy wondered if this wasn't being glossed over because it's a repudiation of John Sweeney's longstanding ties to the Left. She has a point. The MainStream Media's tendencies are well - documented, and not worth rehashing now. I wanted to focus on her other point: that unions are totally irrelevant.

The Yahoo article linked by the title notes that union participation has imploded, from 34% to 12% of the American labor force. And in the private sector, that figure is only 8%. Really hard to have an impact with numbers like that. Now, there's a danger in there, even for die-hard capitalists. Lack of watchdogs has cost America dearly in the past, and may do it again. Unions can serve as a useful brake on stupidity in the executive suite. Or not. But nothing good can happen unless they're in the game, and they won't be in it for the short-term, at least.

So, in my opinion, it's a good thing. Andy Stern may succeed or fail, but he's trying to get his union (SEIU) and the whole movement out of a very deep hole.

John Sweeney, by contrast, shows the results of the adage that "none are so blind as those who won't see". He's condemning his movement to total irrelevancy, and what happens the GOP starts nastily retaliating? (Not that I mind, but from the union guy's PoV, Sweeney is a Bad Man).

Me? I actually wouldn't mind a partially revitalized union system. One with, say, 12% private participation, with slowly growing numbers. Something to rattle Rug Row's cage, but not enough to wreck things...