>I used to quote the BLS data showing that union workers earn higher wages
>than non0union workers (both by industry and by occupation), but these data
>do not show what causes what. It might be that unions cause higher wages by
>bargaining, but it may be also the case that higher wages cause
>unioninzation i.e. union drives tend to concentrate in higher wages areas
>(either geographically, e.g. north/south, or or that the firms that do well
>and pay more are also more open to unionization, whereas firms not doing so
>well ar emore resistant).
Unions tend to reduce pay discrimination. I.e., they're not so important to white men, but they do raise the relative wages of nonwhite men and women of any hue.
Doug