Unions

Over the last 25 years union  participation had fallen from 40% to 20% of the Australian workforce.

This is usually ascribed to the decrease in unskilled labor and an increase in the aspirations of the middle classes. Plus a very aggressive anti-union media.

A good fraction of the service jobs in Australia are artifacts of government legislation and bureaucracy. This is a great way to distribute our wealth even if it’s at the expense personal freedom and happiness… (joke).

A great many jobs which used to be considered unskilled are now requiring university degrees, primarily driven by government. I always thought the incentive was to keep unemployment down by keeping youngsters in Uni and out of the workforce.

But it just struck me that the ‘skilling up’ of the service industries also drives these workers away from unions. These guys don’t aspire to the perception of lowly paid uniformity.

Unions need to rebrand themselves as industry associations. Which makes sense since everyone wants to be a successful contractor.

As Industry associations they can focus on wealth creation in the sector as well as wealth distribution in the sector. That would be far more helpful.

Buy how painful will it be? Generations of in-bred rent seeking…that’s a tough habit to break.