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The notion that unions are necessary to protect workers from exploitation died out about 40 years ago, didn't it?
Oops--wait. There's WalMart. And McDonalds. And a host of other corporations squeezing the blood out of their workforces.
Yet there's something fundamentally unfair about the guild approach--which is what we're facing with pilots, doctors, CPAs, longshoremen, and other workers whose entry into and advancement within their vocations are controlled by workers who got there before them.
There's a shortage of doctors in Canada. Why? Canadian doctors who are already employed continue to do their best to deny medical licenses to otherwise-qualified immigrants. Why? To protect their salaries. A glut of doctors, after all, would only benefit everyone *except* doctors. ( And then they bitch anyway about high patient loads and low incomes.)
Want to practice accountancy in New Zealand? With your 20 years' experience in France, it should be a snap to be licensed, you say. Sorry, but non.
"Seniority" as a basis for increased pay or privileged job placement or scheduling deserves to die, whatever the job. Qualifications should be based on tested or demonstrated merit, and compensation made accordingly.
Oh, what a socialist idea! Surely I'll end up on an FBI watch-list now.
