Manhattan Institute fellow Allison Schrager argues in a nationally syndicated opinion piece that unions can best serve their members by focusing on insurance schemes and cooperating to find boss-friendly solutions. That’s nonsense.
Theoretically, if you are “extra productive” at a specific thing, there is a position you can move into where you do less of the things you’re less productive with and more of the thing you are productive with. And if you are “extra productive”, that should mean less effort for you to put into it: your reward is now less effort at work for the same amount of time and production, and if the thing you’re doing is more complex or dangerous, that slrt of position should be negotiated for better pay by the union.
Instead, the “extra productive” person gets exploited by the employer until they burn out or are Peter Principle’d.
Theoretically, if you are “extra productive” at a specific thing, there is a position you can move into where you do less of the things you’re less productive with and more of the thing you are productive with. And if you are “extra productive”, that should mean less effort for you to put into it: your reward is now less effort at work for the same amount of time and production, and if the thing you’re doing is more complex or dangerous, that slrt of position should be negotiated for better pay by the union.
Instead, the “extra productive” person gets exploited by the employer until they burn out or are Peter Principle’d.