The latest poll by Fox News shows that Donald Trump’s approval rating— at 39% from Oct. 22-Oct. 24— is far below the approval rating for labor unions (59%). [See items 10-19, here: https://andersonrobbins.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/102517_complete_topline_trumpjob_healthcare_taxes.pdf]
The full list for approval ratings is: Barack Obama (63%), labor unions (59%), George W. Bush (59%), the 2010 health care law, also known as Obamacare (54%), Democratic Party (51%), National Rifle Association (49%), National Football League (46%), Melania Trump (45%), Republican Party (40%), and Donald Trump (39%).
But as someone who has spent his entire career studying labor unions—and particularly, the effect of changes in labor law on these organizations— I am nearly certain that Donald Trump’s influence will vastly outweigh labor unions.
In brief, here is how labor laws have changed since the 1980s: 1. It’s much easier for employers to break strikes. 2. Labor unions are being defunded by “right-to-work” laws that allow employees all the benefits of union-representation without paying a dime for it. 3. Public sector unions— the last strong voice for workers—are being run out of states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, and others. 4. The NFL players union has been cast in the villain’s role by an unpopular president who has focused anger at players who are kneeling during the national anthem.
The future, in my view, is that collective bargaining will essentially be legislated out of existence. That means that laws surrounding the negotiation of labor agreements will become irrelevant or a nullity.
But look at that 59% popularity figure. It tells us that a broad segment of American society wants an organization to speak for them.
That’s what unions did before we had labor laws. They boycotted. They protested. They went on spontaneous strikes. They were also provoked to violence and were violent on their own initiative. Collective bargaining channeled those behaviors to the negotiating table—but this institution is dying
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