I do not claim that working-class people have too much power. I claim that unions, under the impression that they are working for the people, actually are their own form of oppression. The capitalists control the capital, the union bosses control the labor, and the worker is shut out. The ending of Animal Farm, illustrated.

There is an ideological component. I suspect that unions have a blind spot regarding just how important labor is. Of course there is no value to humans unless humans get their fair share of benefits out of the process. The problem comes when labor for labor’s sake becomes the goal.

Then unions tend to reject labor-saving technologies, which would work if they had a captive market. That might contribute to why unions still have such a large share of government and geographically constrained markets. But a lot of the time, the union temporarily improves the worker’s conditions, and then the capitalist moves the job overseas, or a competitor who is already overseas rises out of obscurity, or the citizens flee to the suburbs; and the next generation has a harder time finding an entry-level position to escape from poverty.

Unions also tend to discount intellectual contribution. In the United States, teachers are constantly under attack regarding their professionalism. Well, maybe we could treat them as professionals more easily if their unions allowed us to treat them as professionals. But no, they are labor, and a long-serving crank has more status than an inspirational young teacher. (Inspirational old teachers also have more status, but inspirational young teachers rarely stick around that long.)

I’m not in principle opposed to unions. I just think in notable cases they have been harmful.