Is the Michigan thing the death knell of the American labor movement?

[davidn3600]

62. Most Americans view unions as being equally as bad as corporations

Unions have become a victim of their success.

In the past there were few restrictions on corporations that severely exploited workers. Wal-Mart would be a dream job compared to what companies used to do. So unions were formed primarily to respond to those unsafe work environments.

Over the years the government passed laws that tried to achieve the same things unions were fighting for. Agencies like OSHA were formed to keep a safe workplace. Child labor laws were passed. Anti-trust laws were passed. Anti-discrimination laws were passed. Minimum wage laws were passed. The 40-hour work week was put in force, and companies had to pay overtime for employees that go over those hours. Etc, etc, etc...

So unions no longer have to fight for these things anymore. Today they primarily fight for wages and benefits. And many Americans don't see a need for that. They feel they are able to negotiate their own salaries and view union dues as a waste of money. They see labor disputes being waged by rich people, lawyers that are billing hundreds of dollars per hour, and union leaders who are getting quite rich themselves, to get modest increases in pay for employees while the corporate executives don't see their bloated salary go down a dime.

Labor disputes are not fought by workers. It's a war between very wealthy people where both sides claim to have the worker's best interests at heart. Sounds a lot like our politicians.