[WalterBright]

If more people simply said "no", that wouldn't work for companies. Even so, I doubt that employers can afford to be that picky. If they could, everyone would be getting minimum wage. Everyone getting above minimum wage obviously has leverage.

[diob]

Just say "no"? And do what? Lot's of folks are supporting others, or need to support themselves.

"Sorry my sweet daughter, no cancer treatment this week, I said no to that job."

I have 0 clue why you think picky === minimum wage. It just means suppressed wages, which is highly documented. Even the big tech companies had agreements not to "poach".

[WalterBright]

I've encountered companies with such agreements. They still do it, they just don't make it obvious.

Cartels like that are unstable, because each party has a massive incentive to cheat on it, and the advantage accrues to you.

[DarylZero]

That's why they organize into political groups and manipulate wages on the nation-state policy level.

Owner vs. worker power struggle is always all about who can better coordinate collective action. Owners have an inherent and mostly dominating coordination advantage.

[WalterBright]

In a free market, cartels are unstable. Cartels try to deal with this by making compliance required by law.

> Owner vs. worker power struggle

Oh phooey. Negotiation is inherent to a free market. It's not a power struggle. It's supply and demand.

[DarylZero]

> Cartels try to deal with this by making compliance required by law.

That's what I'm saying.

Except you have the wrong idea about stability, because the law itself is the cartel, and very stable.

> It's not a power struggle. It's supply and demand.

It's not supply and demand because it's about which side coordinates better!

Supply and demand, the labor market, and markets generally, exist within parameters determined by political collective action. The big owners generally get their way but there is some democratic pushback.

[WalterBright]

> Except you have the wrong idea about stability, because the law itself is the cartel, and very stable

Cartels on non-poaching are not enforced by the law.

> it's about which side coordinates better

That's what supply and demand is.

[diob]

Literally https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29834753