Savvy Capitalists Love Unions

A CEO is an employee. Why do our public companies pay them like owners? More to the point, why don’t they incentivize the rest of the workforce the same way?

Unless you’re Rip van Winkle just up from a yearslong nap, you’ve probably heard that the United Auto Workers have just started a historic first-ever strike against all of Detroit’s Big 3 automakers at once.

And you’ve likely noticed that Hollywood is largely shut down over a combined screen actors and writers strike.

And that UPS workers just secured a historic new contract, narrowly averting a strike.

And that Starbucks is fighting hard — and, if reports are true, unethically — against unionization efforts. Ditto for Amazon. These last two have been going on for a few years at least.

All across the US labor market, unions are growing, their decades of decline have reversed dramatically, and they are enjoying an impressive resurgence in popular support, including among millions of Americans who are not, themselves, in a union.

I’m in a union (as a teacher), and I’m also a business owner. Though our new venture isn’t big enough to warrant a union yet, when that day inevitably comes, will I rue the pro-union…