[swixmix]

> Ultimately, unions' power comes from the threat of striking.

The power comes from the NLRA, a federal law, which is enforced by the NLRB, a federal agency. It’s about agreeing to and enforcing a contract between the workers and the employer.

Whether or not to strike then becomes a part of contract negotiation.

[moate]

No, it comes from the strike. Clean water doesn't come from the EPA, despite it regulating that water should be clean.

Unions have one power in their neutered, current state: collectivism. That's it. It's that simple. Absent the NLRA, unions could still strike (and did, prior to it's passage) as well as any other actions their members were legally allowed to commit that may help. The NLRA is what corporations and unions agreed to stop literal violence and executions around the time of its passage. Frankly I think it fucking sucks and think labor could use a little more wild west, but I'm a firebrand so take that with salt.

(This conversation ultimately boils down to "where do you believe power comes from: liberty granted from government/institutions, or the freedom of the individual to behave as he sees fit in a situation" and hat's a whole other philosophical can of worms)