It's pretty easy to see what industrial work is like without unions. Look at third world factories. Do you think US working class life would be what it is without unions? Lot of US manufacturers move their work to cheaper non-unionized labor markets the first chance they get.

The problem is inherent within capitalism and whatever problems that unions bring with them don't arise out of the blue. They arise because the class interests of workers and owners are different. It's easy for the owning class to unite since they are relatively few in number. Workers require much more organization and coordination to resist the power of the owners.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Whether that is a good or bad thing depends which side of the transaction you are on.

Do you think the quality of the service provided in your state is proportional to the difference in salary?

Do you see a large number of people leaving the state to teach in states with higher average salaries?

Would you be willing to pay double the tuition to send your child to a school in a state with higher salaries?

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.

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.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

$109 vs $136 per credit hour in the states in question. So, yes I would.

I don't have the data but it would be interesting to compare administrator salaries in those two states.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

The international aspect is a different discussion IMO, I don't see international unions as very likely in the near future.

As someone who has taught at a college part-time for very little money, I don't feel exploited. If I didn't like the deal, I wouldn't have done it. In my case, I wanted the experience and I had some fun; I later turned down a full time teaching job because it didn't pay well enough. The point is, that we are talking about people who should have sufficient education and experience to be able to find a job at a competitive wage. We are also talking about people who, in general, are able to relocate if there are better opportunities elsewhere.

You're in a little different kind of profession. Ask a English teacher, art teacher, sociology teacher etc. In Colorado the part time teachers would earn $18k per year teaching the same load as a full time teacher.
There are plenty of jobs available but the managerial class fill the positions with labor to which they have no obligation and to whom few labor laws apply.
It's a national problem.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I would hope that supply and demand would help take care of the issue. I know some english majors who do pretty well working in "public relations" and other non-teaching type jobs.

It's really not a supply and demand issue. It's a matter of lack of a unionized power in the profession. Most part time teachers in those fields I mentioned that I know teach the same number of courses as full time teachers.
The culture associated with the Reagan Revolution gave permission to exploit at an increased level.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I understand the argument, but I'm still not a big fan of professional unions. We are talking about people who should have enough knowledge to change jobs, careers, or locations if necessary.

Or unionize. Seems like an equally viable option where it's legally possible.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

True; personally, I would probably leave a job if I was forced to join a union.

Ahhhh, yes. Clearly you have never been a teacher or had a spouse that is a teacher.

In a school corp there is no profit motive so if there were no union the administration could make assignments on whim. This means folks would get their jobs in many cases because they were related to someone or played sports with the boss.

Unions are necessary when the workers say they are. We have laws now which make it possible to have unions if the workers vote for them.

In Lafayette we have a Subaru plant which is non union. The company takes care of the workers and provides all the benefits and so forth as if there were a union. Do you think they would do that if there were not union plants around? No.

Same with our Caterpillar plant. Great pay, great bennies. They have many union plants IE in Peoria, where the union essentially sets the pay scale for the non union plant here. Do you think the local plant would pay $34/ hr if the union plant in Peoria was paying $25? no.

The local workers benefit from the sweat and blood of their union brothers.

If you see a bumper sticker which says "unions, the people who brought you the weekend"...believe it.

People gave their lives for the cause to obtain the rights to form unions in the thirties here. The big industries fought it tooth and nail.

Safety regulations in coal mines? Unions fought for them. before the mines were union they were hell holes to work in....as they no doubt are now in China and other places.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

There is a reason I am not a teacher, although I actually enjoy teaching; I am not the best at it. IMHO, it is up to the individual to make themselves valuable in the market place. If an individual can do their job better than almost anyone else they should be able to find a situation where they are rewarded appropriately. Frankly, I am not in favor of any system that rewards average performance.

I know 2 people with union jobs. Neither have weekends off! Neither do I, necessarily, I work when I want. Nobody has a right to tell me I can't.