Description: As unemployment rises and the economy stalls, the union movement is under attack from governments, businesses and even workers.

Source: The Montreal Gazette

Date: 10/20/2011

Link: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Unions+easy+target+weak+economy/5575308/story.html

Related links:

• Prof. Robert Hebdon
• National Union of Public and General Employees
• The Fraser Institute
• Robert Reich on economic inequality

Questions for discussion:

• This article says: “… if the government prevents unions from walking out to protest members’ wages, the entire economy suffers. The butcher and the baker and the automaker all shed customers as workers’ wages decline.” Do you agree?
• Why or why not?
• How has the union movement fared in past times of economic difficulty?
• What is different today?
• This article asks: “…if the jobs created don’t pay very well and the only institution we have to fight for living wages is handcuffed, then where does that leave us as a society struggling to recover from a recession and massive wage inequities?” What do you think?