Even if doing away with unions did lead to lower rates of unemployment, as the corporate think tanks would have us believe, we should bear in mind the observation made by the American civil rights leader, Jesse Jackson. He pointed out that the last time there was full employment on terms that employers find acceptable was when slavery was still legal. The destruction of a well-paid employment means that the wages of fewer workers circulate through these communities. Becasue wage expenditures have a multiplier effect, the loss of employment serves to undermine communities' economic viability. Virtually everyone is affected as the local grocery and clothing stores, sports shops, and restaurants lose business.
Property values fall and the overall economy of the community is weakened.
The alternative is simple. If a company wants to sell goods or services in a given jurisdiction, it should be obliged to furnish employment based on providing those goods and services to the people who live in that jurisdiction. It's just a matter of creating sufficient popular pressure to force corporations and their politicians off of their current destructive course. This is the basis for much of the effort that the TWU is doing in the telecommunications sector. We work with federal, provincial, and municipal governments, other unions, community groups and activists of every stripe, building support for the affordable, high quality service that Canadians need and that generates decent, secure employment for the people who do the related work.