Unions and intersections
In
the subway station where I switch between the Mississauga bus and
Toronto subway systems, at the end of the hallway leading to the
Mississauga Transit bus platforms, there is a Mississauga Transit
ticket booth. Two men usually work in this booth during the office
hours, but I have never actually seen anybody buy a ticket there. Doing
so would be difficult anyways, since the booth and its windows are
fortified so that Interac payments are not possible.
In the main hall of the station, there are two general-puprose kiosks. The one that Apu and his compatriots operate on an open concept, I don't remember ever seeing closed while I have been in the station. It would therefore make sense for the Mississauga Transit to close down the booth and externalize the ticket sales to these other kiosks, and recently a sign in fact appeared on the booth saying that the kiosk in the main hall will now sell Mississauga Transit tickets. The transit booth still remains operational, it seems.
Now, what would my readers guess is the reason for such gross inefficiency? I don't know the answer myself, but I have a pretty good guess.
One of the most important things that I learned from reading Agoraphilia is that even though unions benefit the worker in the expense the capitalist, this is only part of the truth. One third of it, actually. The unions also benefit their workers in the expense of other unemployed workers in the same industry who would be willing to perform the same job for lower pay, and in the expense of all workers in other industries who will them have to pay more for the products that the first group produces, and this way lose some of the gains that their own unions have got for them. In the end, if the salary in every field is 30% higher than it would be without unions, but all prices are similarly 30% higher and even more since the industries are less efficient, then what has really been won?
In the main hall of the station, there are two general-puprose kiosks. The one that Apu and his compatriots operate on an open concept, I don't remember ever seeing closed while I have been in the station. It would therefore make sense for the Mississauga Transit to close down the booth and externalize the ticket sales to these other kiosks, and recently a sign in fact appeared on the booth saying that the kiosk in the main hall will now sell Mississauga Transit tickets. The transit booth still remains operational, it seems.
Now, what would my readers guess is the reason for such gross inefficiency? I don't know the answer myself, but I have a pretty good guess.
One of the most important things that I learned from reading Agoraphilia is that even though unions benefit the worker in the expense the capitalist, this is only part of the truth. One third of it, actually. The unions also benefit their workers in the expense of other unemployed workers in the same industry who would be willing to perform the same job for lower pay, and in the expense of all workers in other industries who will them have to pay more for the products that the first group produces, and this way lose some of the gains that their own unions have got for them. In the end, if the salary in every field is 30% higher than it would be without unions, but all prices are similarly 30% higher and even more since the industries are less efficient, then what has really been won?
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