I was reading Tim Worstall,

We are told, endlessly, that it is only by State intervention in the market place that labour can be properly rewarded for its efforts. Mandated minimum wages... Mandated holiday times,... Mandated this and that in fact...clearly, government knows best in such matters.

Given this obvious fact about the modern world, why is it then that:

More than 80 per cent of the days lost last year were down to strikes in the public sector...

...and I wondered if this was true for the US? Looking up work stoppages,

Of the 20 major work stoppages beginning in 2006, 12 were in private industry and eight were in State and local governments. In private industry, five work stoppages occurred in both manufacturing and construction, and one stoppage each in janitorial services and automotive dealerships. Of the eight work stoppages in State and local governments, four work stoppages involved municipal and county workers, two involved educational services, and one each in public transportation and health care.

And that number does not include Northwest Airlines (begun in August 2005), which was responsible for more than a fourth of all labor-days lost in 2006.

Labels: economics