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Culture War Roundup for the week of October 31, 2022

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Edit: misread your quote.

But this union's raises in the past decade combined were less than inflation last year.

Workers as a whole in the US saw a 2.5% decrease in real average hourly earnings from Sep '21 to Sep '22 according to the BLS thanks to inflation.

Would it have been better if employment law had a clause that automatically indexed all wages to inflation? I suspect not, as it would necessitate price increases that will further fuel inflation and possible bankruptcies and wholesale job losses for price elastic sectors. Instead, we have what I think tends to be healthy free-market reallocation of human capital, with some businesses reducing hours or closing because they are not profitable enough to increase wages to market levels, while others with higher ROCE manage to attract and retain workers. Even in sectors with high union membership, like teachers and cops, you see news headlines of teacher or police shortages that in turn force cities to raise wages or offer higher starting bonuses. That seems more politically palatable and less likely to be corrupt and inefficient compared to wholesale strikes.

So why not let the janitors vote with their feet if they feel underpaid, just like the average US worker?