Quick response on David v Goliath
I'd like briefly to address some points made by Kim Bobo and Janice Fine about immigration and labor organizing. Without question, stagnant wages and increased workplace abuses are due to many things, and it's debatable how much of a role illegal immigration has played. But to say something isn't "the" cause doesn't mean it's not "a" cause.
Kim Bobo says the main trouble comes from Goliath employers who feel free to "underpay workers because they know how hard it is for workers to find other jobs." But how is that not consistent with oversupply? Janice Fine says that the "American state cannot stop immigration of low wage workers seeking better lives: workers will get in and flows will vary with market conditions." But, surely, we're not market absolutists. Why should supply and demand be forces we're able to tame when it comes to wages and working conditions but unable to tame when it comes to inflows of labor?
Leave a comment