Instead of undocumented anecdotes, perhaps we be shown how unions are practicing "extortion."
"Stop demonizing employers." Sure, when they stop abusing employees. The gap between CEO pay and worker pay is huge in the U.S. We have one of the most inquitable pay structures in the developed world. Here's a heavily sourced Wikipedia article on the subject:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_ine ... ted_StatesWorkers' pay goes flat for a decade while employers' compensation skyrockets. Millionaires like Mitt Romney pay a lower effective income tax rate that does the average worker. (So much so that he decided not to take all of his entitled deductions to ensure his 2011 income tax rate stayed above a level he promised. Of course, he can always file an amended return and get the money back. Amazing.)
Defending employers in this day and age is like defending Ebeneezer Scrooge, Scrooge McDuck, and Monopoly's Mr. Moneybags. Throw in a Thurston Howell III and you have the complete set.
American workers got pulled into the machinery by the Industrial Revolution. They were treated like machines and cattle for decades. Organized labor was a key player in pulling them out and leveling the playing field. But where that counterbalance doesn't exist, you get:
-- Employer manipulating employees' work hours to ensure the employers don't have to provide benefits (made more prominent by Obamacare).
-- Flat wages for a decade.
-- Use and abuse of undocumented workers. (Wal-Mart, anyone?)
-- The elimination of defined benefit pension plan, exchanged for 401k plans. (Yes, let's put all these workers into the market and let them sustain the risk)
Who can change this? People can, through their government. Otherwise, the deck will always be stacked unfairly towards the haves and the have-some-mores. The never-haves will remain on the outside, looking in.
Read your history. Does anyone want to go back to the way it was 100 years ago? Really?