Including the unemployed workers in the union ranks is brilliant, NGL

> some workers realize (consciously or subconciously), that the quickest way for them to increase their allocation of resources is to bargain for it, via political activism and strikes.  The institutional rules allow for this, so they take advantage of it.  They do this out of self interest, not any high minded solidarity about workers uniting.

The Meissner account of post-war Europe I mention is pretty revealing. The Scandi countries did this extremely well: large, industry-wide unions, central wage negotiations (also including the unemployed) managed to credibly commit to _not_ take advantage of capitalist investing (=hold back wage demands, minimize strike activity)... so you got lots of investments and, over time, wage increases from productivity. 

UK on the other hand, had smaller unions, workplace based, and did _not_ incorporate the unemployed. Hence the crazy strikes of the 1970s. Scandi countries grew faster and are, I believe to this day, richer.

denlillaapan

 is the best analogy?  We're all brought up on pirate stories where the captain doesn't share the spoils fairly and the crew mutinies.

That being said, it's a really great point about why workers would feel solidarity with each other from vastly different industries.  And in practice, when their interests collide, they get nasty.

One way to look at it (and the way I look at most things), is that people rationalize 

.  Thus, some workers realize (consciously or subconciously), that the quickest way for them to increase their allocation of resources is to bargain for it, via political activism and strikes.  The institutional rules allow for this, so they take advantage of it.  They do this out of self interest, not any high minded solidarity about workers uniting.  But they ex-post rationalize it with higher minded principles.  Since the higher principles are common across workers of various industries, they make a show of unity.  But like I said, when their real interests collide, the unity evaporates.

the_stacker_muse

BooksAndArticles

econ

Wittgenstein, Economists’ Empathy, and an Unpublished Tale of a Fishing Boat

Haha I'm not entirely a *boat* is the best analogy?  We're all brought up on pirate stories where the captain doesn't share the spoils fairly and the crew mutinies.

That being said, it's a really great point about why workers would feel solidarity with each other from vastly different industries.  And in practice, when their interests collide, they get nasty.

One way to look at it (and the way I look at most things), is that people rationalize *post-hoc*.  Thus, some workers realize (consciously or subconciously), that the quickest way for them to increase their allocation of resources is to bargain for it, via political activism and strikes.  The institutional rules allow for this, so they take advantage of it.  They do this out of self interest, not any high minded solidarity about workers uniting.  But they ex-post rationalize it with higher minded principles.  Since the higher principles are common across workers of various industries, they make a show of unity.  But like I said, when their real interests collide, the unity evaporates.