The Machinists Union hasn’t been very good for Wichita.
Besides destroying the jobs of some 2,100 Boeing workers in Wichita when the company fled to somewhere with lower labor costs, it seems that the local Machinists Union in Wichita may be stealing from its members. KAKE Television quotes union members using the word “embezzlement,” with one saying the unions is “three and a half million dollars in arrears.” (Machinists Union members hear investigation findings, February 22, 2016)
The union members still with jobs may have thought they were the lucky ones. That is the economic effect of labor unions, after all. By driving up the cost of labor, less is demanded. So union workers who still have jobs are doing better than they would otherwise — that is, until their leadership steals from them, allegedly. Or until the company employs no one, as does Boeing in Wichita.
The 2,100 Boeing workers without jobs in Wichita because of the union’s effect — well, at least the union isn’t able to steal from them, allegedly.