> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Brad De Long
> >
> >Leo Troy, a labor economist and union critic, says unions are being
> >"left at the train station" by focusing on lower-income workers such
> >as janitors.
>
> ???
This highlights the problem with the "union premium" - positive and negative - since it often compares industries as much as the effects of unionization. The "union premium" is very high for blacks and latinos, since the non-union industries those groups are in are generally low-wage, while the "union premium" for white workers is much narrower, since they are more likely to be in the high-wage non-union jobs.
It is nonsensical to argue that there is a problem with unions expanding into lower-wage industries like janitors. If that decreases the "union premium", that is purely a statistical tic. The more important statistic is the union premium within the janitorial industry, which is extremely high.
-- Nathan Newman