Sure, but what's the alternative?
A race to the bottom?
Do you think it's a coincidence that diminishing union influence in the private sector coincides with sluggish wages growth and an ever growing gap between the growth of corporate earnings and the earnings of their employees?
I don't.
Its a factor, but I think its a more complex story than that.
For example, take this research paper on the subject that was prepared for Parliament:
https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/6609740/upload_binary/6609740.pdf
When citing the causes of wage growth it states
(bottom of Page 1):
''The major causes of the slowdown in wage growth cited by both the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and Treasury include the presence of excess capacity in the labour market (demonstrated by stubbornly high rates of underemployment); a steady decline in inflation and inflationary expectations; and a decline in the terms of trade since the end of the mining boom.''
It addresses the issue of declining union participation on
page 18 and states the following:
Union density (or the union member share of total employment) in Australia has fallen progressively over the longer term from 41.6 per cent in 1988 to 13.6 per cent in August 2018. The Australia Institute has argued that a strong relationship exists between low levels of industrial disputation more recently and lower wage outcomes. However, a closer look at the data shows higher wage outcomes were achieved from the early 2000s to 2007 when levels of industrial disputation were also declining rapidly. A stronger relationship exists between the two series from 2008 onwards (see Figure 9).
Then finally in the conclusion on
Page 27 it states that:
''It is possible that a decline in bargaining power associated with declining union membership and lower rates of industrial disputation in Australia has impacted upon wage growth, but the magnitude of their influence is more difficult to measure. There is also evidence of periods where rates of industrial disputation were low but wages were growing relatively strongly. The combination of restrictions on when employees can undertake industrial action, protracted enterprise bargaining processes, ceilings on remuneration increases in the public sector, and movement of employees away from being covered by enterprise agreements to award coverage may have also contributed to lower wage growth outcomes.''
Don't get me wrong I see some value in effective and well managed unions that help ensure employees don't get shafted but I have also experienced dreadful union behaviour that has crippled the maritime sector at times. I have also never needed a union which means that unfortunately I can't draw on first hand experiences when thinking of the positives, so perhaps that makes me biased.
Either way, I take your point about the coincidence between lower wage growth and lower union participation but as shown above when considering causation rather than coincidence many other factors are arguably more influential.
