The Wagner Act under Roosevelt effectively neutered and de-radicalised trade unions. Although unions have helped raise wages, work conditions, productivity and living standards, they also became complicit in maintaining the capitalist status quo, with union leaders often becoming a new sort of capitalist class with their interest being closer to that of the bosses they once opposed, rather than the workers they’re meant to represent.
As trade unions become controllable and no longer a threat to bosses, there was also a long-term strategy to undermine their modest influence and membership. We’ve seen decades of wage stagnation, increasing job insecurity, growing income inequality, and a huge decline in union membership and influence. And they still say: “Oh, unions aren’t needed these days, this is the 21st Century, things are different now.”
The original point of unions wasn’t to merely negotiate better wages with the capitalist class, but to be an institution that could take over the production without the need of bosses at all.
@josie Completely backwards. The countries that implement “laissez-faire” are the poorest places on Earth. The US became the mighty economic powerhouse it was through massive state interventions and protectionism, and saw the growth of the most prosperous working-class in the world through huge progressive taxation, and high wages when unions still had some clout.