[Jiro]

>usually the thing that keeps wages low isn't business owner collusion it's the availability of workers accepting work with a low wage.

But if you have a labor shortage and low wages at the same time, that means that workers accepting work with a low wage aren't available, but the employers are keeping wages low anyway. (And in this context, poor working conditions amount to "low wages" because they decrease the value of the job to the employee.)

In capitalism, "labor shortage" means "the employers had better pay their employees more, or else they won't have the employees to compete against other employers who will pay more".

[zamfi]

I don't think we disagree, but what you describe is not necessarily a result of collusion -- maybe the business just doesn't work with higher-paid workers (i.e., product costs more than market is willing to pay) and scales with number of workers, in which case the owner might take whatever workers they can get at cost X, but can't hire any at cost X+1.

Only a profit-averse business owner would turn away revenue-exceeding-costs work merely because it involves paying workers more -- that business will likely not last super long unless there are special circumstances in play.