The article “Stronger Labor Unions Could Do a Lot of Good” by Noah Smith discusses the important role that labor unions in the US can play in strengthening workers’ bargaining power. While the article discusses the topic in detail, some statements that appear biased. The paper will identify these statements and justify why they are considered biased.
The Decline of Labor Unions
The article considers the decline of labor unions as the major reason for the inability of workers to get a fair share of the value they are creating (Smith, 2017). It is evident that this statement is biased and is meant to appeal to the readers, particularly, workers. Over the past years, the country has been recording an increase in productivity and it would be difficult to reward the growing number of workers the same way it used to happen several decades ago when productivity was low. The labor market is flooded and this means that the number of workers in the country is on the high thereby making it difficult for employers to increase their wages while also trying to accommodate a large number of employees. Getting a fair share of value can only happen with a high demand for labor and this is not the case in the country today.
Another statement that I found to be biased is the claim that with Republicans in control of all the branches of government, it would be almost impossible to have a regulatory climate that is union-friendly (Smith, 2017). From this statement, it is evident that the author is biased as labor is a sensitive issue that affects all people irrespective of their political affiliations. Just like Democrats, Republicans can amend laws to favor unions because their members are also workers in the country.
References
Smith, N. (2017). Stronger Labor Unions Could Do a Lot of Good. Bloomberg. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2017-12-06/stronger-labor-unions-could-do-a-lot-of-good
