Welcome, friends, to another edition of Economic Update, a weekly program devoted to the economic

dimensions of our lives and those of our children. I'm your host, Richard Wolfe. In today's program,

we're going to be talking about the growing interest in alliance between labor unions and worker

co-ops, the stock buyback program, corporations using their profits, not to invest, not to create

jobs, but to make more money, basically,

for those who run them. We're also going to be talking about the rising popularity of labor unions,

the scandal of how retirees are being treated in this time of inflation, and why the program

of sanctions against Russia have been so unsuccessful.

So let's jump right in.

This idea of an alliance between worker co-ops on the one hand and labor unions on the other

offers extraordinary advantages, and those are becoming more and more interesting to and attractive

to people involved in both sides, as unionists or as activists in worker co-ops. And the idea is simply that these two institutions could and should support each other.

Imagine what might happen if there were to be a new third political party, and indeed

there are efforts in that direction now, if it could base itself in part on an alliance

between labor unions on the one hand and worker co-ops on the other.

They might really change the whole attitude. And as we're going to see, that's already happening

in terms of labor unions. And so here's a way that these two institutions, by allying,

could strengthen each other.

And let me say very clearly why that is, how that would work.

Imagine unions negotiating with an employer because they want higher wages,

because the employer is trying to get away by not raising wages,

even though productivity is going up and so on, typical problems of labor unions.

...