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Review: Unions Keep Watch on Corporations
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.jpg) Aug. 21, 2019 | BOOK REVIEW | In his sweeping new history, “Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor,” Steven Greenhouse, a former labor reporter and foreign correspondent for the New York Times, builds a persuasive case that the inability of workers to engage in collective bargaining has markedly shifted power to corporations, fueling the nation’s exploding inequality.CEOs at the biggest corporations now make 312 times more than the average worker, up from 20 times more than five decades ago. The share of national income going to business profits has risen to its highest level since World War II, Greenhouse reports, while workers’ share — employee compensation including benefits — has sunk to its lowest level since the 1940s. “Millions of Americans know little about what unions have achieved over American history,” he writes. “Labor unions, and their ability to create a powerful collective voice for workers, played a huge role in building the world’s largest, richest middle class... Los Angeles Times
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