America’s labor unions have argued that globalization is a bad thing — that workers and consumers are the victims when companies go multinational. When unions do it however, it’s apparently a good thing:
How will union members feel knowing that their dues may be going to efforts abroad? With regard to political organizing, will this internationalization of the union allow workers in the U.K. to help choose the next president of the United States (or vice versa)? Further, there already exists a ‘countervailing force’ to global capital: consumers and the marketplace. Except where governments interfere, consumers have the power to determine which multinationals succeed or fail. If America’s labor leaders are looking for an example of how multinationals are brought down, they need only look to sectors like steel and cars in the U.S. If you can’t make a good product at a competitive price, you fail. Sometimes — as in the case of General Motors — you can fail simply because you’re saddled with bad labor deals.
