Paul Krugman: The War Against Wages

Check out Paul Krugman’s column in the New York Times (October 6, “The War Against Wages”).

In the column, he explains why American wages have not gone up, even though worker productivity has increased. Krugman notes that the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 provided protection for workers to organize, and that in 1970, the business community began "a successful campaign to roll back unions."

It should be noted, however, that the roll back began in 1947 with the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act.

Taft-Hartley dealt a crippling blow to labor unions, as it outlawed secondary boycotts, allowed management to work against union-organizing drives, and allowed the president to force strikers back to work for up to eighty days when the nation's "safety and health" were at stake, along with a series of other policies that fundamentally shifted the balance of power in favor of business.

In order to level the playing field, Taft-Hartley must be repealed.