Are you implying that it is unions that cause corporations to seek offshoring, automation etc.?
From where I stand it’s a constant race to extract more from workers and unions and possibly legislation are some of the very few forces impeding it.
From where I stand it’s a constant race to extract more from workers and unions and possibly legislation are some of the very few forces impeding it.
It’s one reason we haven’t seen much advancement (until recently!) in automated food preparation (vis-a-vis industrial factories)—the labor has been very cheap.
Research and advancement in automated food preparation has never stopped. They were working on the problem in the 1970s with automatic vending machines, Fast food in particular has been salivating at thought of throwing out human workers for ages. (see for example: https://www.deseret.com/2003/8/11/19740875/mcdonald-s-flips-... and https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/mcdonalds-testi... and https://www.cnet.com/culture/mcdonalds-hires-7000-touch-scre...)
The very second that the tech is ready and reliable enough, it's a done deal. No worker will ever be as cheap as a robot slave.
We as "knowledge workers" know this in our bones.
Now that we've digitized and automated blue collar work, we're tackling white collar work.
Not for this _single_ reason. The decision for offshoring/nearshoring is a multifaceted one.
Companies that have the risk to be locked in a workforce monopoly and does not have the capability to offshore/nearshore work positions, will fight with nail and tooth attempts for uniontization
Well that's at least the spooky scary threat that companies use to get people to not join union so my bet is that it's total bullshit and if they could already offshore their workers and factories they would have done so already. Milk those higher wages and benefits while they're still here because they won't change the calculus at all when compared to workers who will work for single digit dollars a day.
Just look at the automotive industry. They have not only been offshoring, but the unions have strangled them to the point where it nearly destroyed the industry.
I will only buy non-US cars as a result of this (mostly because of poor qualit).
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Honda_Motor_Company
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Group_of_America
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Motor_America
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Motor_North_America
The fact that The Ford Dodge GM Chrysler Jeep Dr Pepper Snapple Group can't make a quality car is on them. In real dollars American workers have never cost less.
Those fat-cat union workers making… $45k/yr. Don't they understand how their greed affects our profits?
But maybe not forever since the UAW strike those unionized workers might gasp make the same amount they did pre-inflation in real dollars. The greedy bastards not taking a pay cut while the cost of the cars go up and those companies make record profits. Won't you think of the poor owners who are demanding higher returns, I think we can all sacrifice for them.