Or, if you look at it another way, he just alienated quite a few members of his main consumer base. I bet the stockholders just LOVED that.
I don't like most of the fairy tale hoo-hah that comes out of unions, but I have to be suspicious of anyone who works that hard to prevent one from forming.
It did cross my mind to wonder whether there was any good non-ego reason why the op-ed had to appear with his name attached to it. CEOs often make decisions that are difficult to explain in terms of shareholder value but easily explained if self-aggrandizement is admitted.
But to your question of working hard to prevent unions from forming, I ask you the same question that I ask of Paul Krugman in Conscience of a Liberal. Krugman points out complainingly that from the 40s through the 60s, manufacturing management in the U.S. made unions' lives more difficult by increasing wages and benefits, thus taking away motivation for workers to join unions (much like Mackey and other modern executives with progressive libertarian values try to treat employees well to head off unions at the pass). To which I ask: so? Isn't this what unions want? Isn't this development what we would expect (and hope) would emerge from a competitive and fair labor market? If you want to look at a company that plays hardball to prevent unions from forming, try Wal-Mart, not Whole Foods.
Focused on expanding liberal democracy and individual material well-being in the twenty-first century through: 1) Drawing attention to the world's fastest-growing superpower China, its repressive government, and its international strategy. 2) Emphasizing the rational and moral basis of democracy and free markets.
3 comments:
Or, if you look at it another way, he just alienated quite a few members of his main consumer base. I bet the stockholders just LOVED that.
I don't like most of the fairy tale hoo-hah that comes out of unions, but I have to be suspicious of anyone who works that hard to prevent one from forming.
It did cross my mind to wonder whether there was any good non-ego reason why the op-ed had to appear with his name attached to it. CEOs often make decisions that are difficult to explain in terms of shareholder value but easily explained if self-aggrandizement is admitted.
But to your question of working hard to prevent unions from forming, I ask you the same question that I ask of Paul Krugman in Conscience of a Liberal. Krugman points out complainingly that from the 40s through the 60s, manufacturing management in the U.S. made unions' lives more difficult by increasing wages and benefits, thus taking away motivation for workers to join unions (much like Mackey and other modern executives with progressive libertarian values try to treat employees well to head off unions at the pass). To which I ask: so? Isn't this what unions want? Isn't this development what we would expect (and hope) would emerge from a competitive and fair labor market? If you want to look at a company that plays hardball to prevent unions from forming, try Wal-Mart, not Whole Foods.
Heh. I COULD look at Wal-Mart, but I'd rather not. Ever.
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