Uncooked Goose

[Geee]

National Review:

The story of killing the goose that lays the golden egg is one of those old fairy tales for children with a heavy message that a lot of adults should listen to. The labor unions that have driven the makers of Twinkies into bankruptcy, thereby potentially destroying 18,500 jobs, could have learned a lot from that old children’s fairy tale.

Many people think of labor unions as organizations to benefit workers, and think of employers who are opposed to unions as just people who don’t want to pay their employees more money. But some employers have made it a point to pay their employees more than the union wages, just to keep them from joining a union.

Why would they do that, if it is just a question of not wanting to pay union wages? The Twinkies bankruptcy is a classic example of costs created by labor unions that are not confined to paychecks.