>There is considerable anecdotal evidence of employer threats to move
>production to Mexico if workers vote to unionize. Whether it adds
>up to a rigorous proof of an effect is another question. It is hard to
>separate
>the effects of particular trade policies from the up and downs of the
>economic cycle.
>
>Whatever the economic data may say, the gut instinct of most trade unionists
>that
>NAFTA was a bad deal and the line-up of
>corporate America behind trade liberalization is pretty good evidence to me
>that
>NAFTA certainly didn't help the working class.
Look, I know all this. But I think unionists, workers, and their intellectuals spend a bit too much time obsessing about trade. It's a lot easier to blame foreign competition than it is to talk about your own capitalists and your own stinking laws. The focus on trade doesn't say much to service sector workers, either, and they're 80% of the private sector workforce. Just 15% of U.S. workers are employed in manufacturing.
Doug