You already know I’m not a fan of labor unions.  I just don’t see the point to them in today’s society.  They were needed once in our history. They are no longer needed.

Employers, for the most part, in today’s information is everywhere world, can’t afford to treat employees bad.  It doesn’t mean that we can’t find stories of this happening, it does, but employers face major ramifications for going off the rails.

Regardless, the data is even showing us how ineffective labor unions really are. From BusinessInsider:

“The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released its annual figures on the number of employee strikes and employer lockouts for 2014. Only 11 work stoppages, including both strikes and lockouts, involving at least 1,000 workers began in 2014, tied with 2010 for the second lowest number on record.”

Employers and employees no longer have an appetite for strikes.  Employers can’t afford them, and employees can’t afford them.  At no other point in the history of the world have employers and employees worked so well together. Both, have too much to lose.

When you reach this point in an economic relationship, labor unions cease to have relevance.

Labor unions, now, seem to be more of a burden on employees, the people they represent, than they are to the actual employers.  In the past couple of decades you actually see more employers inviting unions into their shops, not because they love unions, but because they see unions as a way to control employees more effectively.

Contracts work both ways.  When unions are strong, like they were fifty years ago, contracts work to the favor of the employees. When unions are weak, like they are now, contracts work to the benefit of the employer.

Are unions completely dead?  No.  Could they be?  Yes.  The existence of unions, while hugely important to American labor history, no longer have a useful existence in a 21st century employment market. If anything, they are now holding employees back.