H. In Defense of Sweatshops

Wage  Rate	Workers Hired	Total  Costs	Marginal Resource  Cost	Demand  for Workers
6	1	6	6	4
7	2	14	8	3
9	3	27	13	2
12	4	48	21	1
C. Economic analysis     1. Pure competition results in more workers          being hired at a higher wage rate     2. WM < WPC and QM < QPC D. Oligopsony, a few buyers, often yields similar results

  V. Union models
      A. Introduction
          1. A union is an organization of workers selling their services collectively.
          2. Unions have many goals.
              a. Primary goal of higher income is becoming less important.
              b. Recent emphasis has been on employment security.
     B. There are many methods of achieving higher wages.
         1. Increase demand (MRP_L) for labor
             a. Increase product demand
                1) Advertising the union label
                2) Sponsoring trade restrictions such as tariffs and quotas
             b. Increase the productivity of workers
                1) Encourage cooperation with labor-management committees 
                2. Negotiate worker training and education programs
         2. Control the supply of workers hired
               a. Require licenses and apprenticeships
               b. Restrict immigration and child labor
               c. Encourage shorter workweek and family leave programs
              d. Keep unneeded jobs management wants to eliminate (featherbedding) 
               e. Require closed shops which limit hiring to union members
               f. Require union shops requiring new workers to join after a set period
               g. Against open shops where all may work, joining union is voluntary 
     C. Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act) of 1935 became known as the "Magna Charta" of labor 
          because it increased union power
         1. It made company-sponsored unions illegal, stopped company interference with unionizing activity (strikes), 
             prohibited discrimination against union members, and required companies to bargain in good faith. 
         2. Set up the National Labor Relations Board to investigate/stop unfair labor practices
     D. Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 decreased union power.
         1. Outlawed closed shops
         2. Allowed state right-to-work-laws which to date have made union shops requiring eventual union membership
              illegal in 21 states (Right to Work States)
         3. Outlawed featherbedding: (keeping positions even though there is no need) 
         4. Outlawed secondary boycotts (companies the employer does business with also feel a boycott)

VI. Bilateral monopoly        A. Monopsony vs. union (monopoly)         B. Could the net result be close to that of a competitive market?             1. The answer depends upon negotiation results.             2. If bargaining power is split equally, wages paid and quantity                hired could be similar to that of pure competition.

 VII. Minimum wage 
        A. A minimum wage is a price floor put on wages to stop them from falling below some legislated level. 
        B. The result may be a surplus of workers (unemployment). See graph
        C. Studies conducted in the 1990's showed that increasing the minimum wage did not increase unemployment though
             the economic expansion of the period created a shortage of workers.
         D. Continue reading "The Economic Debate over Minimum Wage Effects" is from the blog Econbrowser.

	Recent Minimum  Wage Rates ($)		CPI-U	Real Minimum Wage
	1974	2.30	49.3	4.67
	1978	2.65	65.2	4.06
	1981	3.35	90.9	3.68
	1990	3.80	130.7	2.91
	1991	4.25	136.2	3.12
	1997	5.15	160.5	3.21
	2007	5.85
	2008	6.55
	2009	7.25
	Many states have departed from the federal minimum wage. Washington has the highest minimum wage in the country at $7.93 as of January 1, 2007.
For a vast amount of material on the minimum wage visit  Almanic of Policy Issues,  Wikipedia  U.S. Minimum Wage History, and 2007 Federal Minimum Wage