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<p>Well, it’s not just Billy Hunter alone, no matter how savvy he may be as a negotiator (I would actually argue that Don Fehr or Michael Weinstein are better examples, as they run the most powerful sports union in the world). The teachers unions and the UAW would need to replicate the entire sports union infrastructure. After all, even if Billy Kidman were to retire tomorrow, the NBPA would still be a powerful union. </p>
<p>But at the same time, let’s not overly denigrate the strength of the UAW or the teachers unions. During its heyday of the 1960’s to 1980’s, the UAW delivered one of the best deals in modern labor history, where workers, without needing to ever attend college, could nevertheless enjoy gold-plated health care, pensions, and wages lavish enough to purchase second homes and boats on Lake Michigan, during a time when the Big 3 automakers were becoming notorious for producing famously unreliable vehicles such as the Vega that inflicted immense damage to the reputation of the US auto industry and trained an entire generation of American consumers to prefer foreign cars. Not only that, but the UAW also negotiated a ‘jobs bank’ by which thousands of ‘laid-off’ auto workers would nevertheless be paid to attend a special union office where they could sit around and read magazines or watch TV all day long while continuing to draw a paycheck until such time as a new auto job opening was created. In other words, the Big3 were producing absymally low-quality products while its blue-collar workers continued to enjoy excellent pay and working conditions - all due to the workings of the union. Granted, it could never last, and union conditions have indeed been radically reduced in the last few years, but while it lasted, it is clear that auto workers were enjoying one of the best deals in the world. Produce a terrible product, but get paid well anyway. </p>
<p>The same could be said for the teachers union. Let’s face it - the performance of American students is rather mediocre relative to that of most other developed nations. Yet teachers enjoy summers off and many of them (depending on their school district) after a few years are provided with tenure which makes them effectively impossible to fire. From 2007-2010, only 88 teachers in the entire New York City school system were fired, yet there are surely far more than 88 poor teachers within that system of a total of 80,000. </p>
<p>Now, to be clear, I am not saying that auto workers or teachers do not necessarily deserve the work conditions that they obtained. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t. That’s a judgment call based on values. But what is clear is that auto workers and teachers have been able to enjoy working conditions vastly improved over their peers, almost certainly because of the intervention of unions. After all how many people, either in the 1970’s or now, who never went to college are nevertheless able to afford second homes and excellent pension benefits? How many newly minted college graduates are able to find a job that gives them summers off and the opportunity for tenure after a few years? {Contrast that with private sector employers which will readily lay off thousands of employees regardless of their experience level.} Let’s face it - they have a deal that many other Americans can only wish they had, and unions are probably the reason why. Good for them.</p>
<p>Which makes it all the more intriguing that new biglaw associates are also able to obtain high salaries…without the intervention of unions. Why and how? I think we’d all like to know their secret. After all, we have all agreed (and nobody has disputed) that they are not actually profitable, defined as, on average, not generating sufficient revenue to cover their costs. So why do they keep getting paid so well?</p>