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Originally Posted by Craig
I think most of those issues were addressed many years ago through labor laws (which the unions of the time were instrumental in passing). I also think that those laws now provide more than adequate protection for hourly workers. I'm less concerned about exempt employees, who are usually more able to take care of themselves. In other words, I believe they have outlived their usefulness.
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The labor laws are national laws and are great accomplishments of labor unions but since the labor market is no longer national but international, unless workers organize across national borders, they will continue to be exploited by globalization.
Labor laws do provide protection against some kinds of arbitrary firings, they do little to enhance the value of worker's labor. In our state there is a large population of exploited part time workers in my profession. Even though collective bargaining is forbidden, I've seen employers fire workers upon learning of their attempts to unionize. It's not exactly the same as at the time of Ludlow but the basic power relations have not changed.