Labor Watch

Labor Watch
Creation of the Labor-Progressive Alliance: Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste
The story of organized labor’s development and rise to prominence from the end of the Civil War through the elections of 1946 is complicated. That the difficult, poorly paid, and…
by Michael Watson on July 7, 2023

Education Reform, Labor Watch
A Much Needed but Partial Great School Rethink
School “reform” is probably only slightly younger than schooling itself. Americans have advanced numerous waves of education “reform” phases, from the very beginnings of government schooling under the Massachusetts Bay…
by Michael Watson on June 30, 2023

Labor Watch
American Compass Blunders Left
American Compass’s manifesto Rebuilding American Capitalism calls upon conservative policymakers to enact enormous worldwide tariffs to constrain consumer choice, develop a broad-based system of central planning, raise taxes on financial…
by Michael Watson on June 23, 2023

Labor Watch
A Mandate for Labor Error: Statism from the Right
For almost 80 years, the conservative movement and the Republican Party that has served as its imperfect electoral vehicle have sought to advance three goals related to labor relations. But…
by Michael Watson on May 22, 2023

Labor Watch
A Mandate for Labor Error: Big Labor Radicalizes
As conservatives advanced their moderate aims in the post–New Deal era, Big Labor started radicalizing. As workers’ freedom not to join unions thrived under right-to-work laws led to stalled growth…
by Michael Watson on May 22, 2023

Labor Watch
A Mandate for Labor Error: Strange Bedfellows
A Mandate for Labor Error Statism from the Right | Big Labor Radicalizes Strange Bedfellows | Coming to Policy at Last…
by Michael Watson on May 22, 2023

Labor Watch
A Mandate for Labor Error: Coming to Policy at Last
Project 2025 did not fully abandon the policies of the Taft-Hartley consensus. The document rejects the Biden administration–Big Labor approach to expanding union power and membership. But the worst proposal…
by Michael Watson on May 22, 2023

Labor Watch
A Mandate for Labor Error: Conclusion
The Taft-Hartley consensus—making union membership voluntary, subjecting unions to government oversight, and protecting consumers and the economy from labor strife—worked. It apparently worked so well that conservatives forgot why they…
by Michael Watson on May 22, 2023

Labor Watch
Meet Julie Su, the Would-Be Secretary of Forced Social Justice Unionism
Though it is not surprising that Biden, whose campaign was heavily backed by labor unions and who has vowed to empower the unions via policy, would choose to appoint a Labor secretary…
by Michael Watson on May 10, 2023

Labor Watch
Teachers Unions and the Lowering of Standards: Teaching in Compton
Teachers unions are pushing to lower the academic and behavioral standards of America’s public school students, especially for minority children. Yet there is no need for these lax policies, as…
by Kali Fontanilla on May 8, 2023