Labor unions deserve appreciation
By John Kretzschmar

The fate of the American labor movement, particularly in the public sector, will be continually in the news as we near the November election.

After Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's victory in the recall election, some pundits are describing the demise of organized labor. Those who do so are suffering from a case of “historical amnesia.”

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There's not much dispute that labor unions use collective bargaining to improve levels of workplace fairness and justice for union members. What is less appreciated, and hinted at in Meyerson's column, is that labor unions indirectly improve the well-being of non-union wage earners through the “spillover” and “trickle up” effects.

When density is significant, union contracts become the benchmark for non-union employers — a phenomenon called the “spillover” effect. Additionally, union contracts also have a “trickle up” effect when employees of unionized employers, who are not in the bargaining unit, see their wages and benefits improve as the result of the last set of union negotiations.