I had no idea that Mr. Nordberg knows Michigan better than its own residents. I'm glad that this Flint, Mich. situation was brought up again, because it gives me an opportunity to mention that GM also faced heavy taxes there, which raised the costs of production and would have been passed on to the consumer, had GM not moved to Mexico or closed its Michigan plants. What horrifying news that the maker of Spam cuts its wages. Anyone looking for a job who does not want a wage cut can choose to work for another company. If Mr. Nordberg wants, he can organize a Spam boycott.
Boycotts are too a reality of the free market.
In the case of the Teamsters, leader Ron Carey was eventually thrown out of his position by members who felt he did not represent their interests, not too long after the UPS strike. As for Hawai'i, you can find many public workers who feel unrepresented by UPW leader Gary Rodrigues. Also, I hate to burst Mr. Nordberg's bubble, but there also exists a gap between the pay of union members and union leaders. Mainland union bosses John Sweeney and Jimmy Hoffa Jr. are, to put in bluntly, extraordinarily wealthy. The more companies there are in a country, the higher the demand for each worker is, and the more companies there are, the more each must compete for the best workers.