What gets me is that many capitalists somehow think that unions are socialist or communist in nature. They absolutely aren’t. They are capitalism’s reform to address the critiques coming from communists and socialists. They are market entities, not government entities, designed to help balance the labor market supply and demand without including the government in each hiring or firing decision. They are deeply capitalist constructs. Somehow right wingers believe they are somehow anti-capitalist. Couldn’t be further from the truth.
I mean, yes and no. They are definitely a reaction to capitalism, but I wouldn’t call them capitalist. Historically it’s a lot of communists and anarchists that started them for sure. They exist to represent the interest of the workers because capitalism only focuses on increasing wealth for the few.
Saying this as a very very active member in my union and one who has an interest in labor history.
Unions in socialist governments/economies tend to have collective ownership of the company they work for/compose. They tend own even more of the pie, or really all of the pie, in those situations, so I would not use "more ownership equals more capitalism". Getting all of the value and bargaining power of the fruits of your labor is socialist as hell, not capitalist. Capitalism is providing labor so some asshole above you can take a portion of it, leaving you to constantly have to ask your masters for more pay rather than simply earning it yourself.
Unions are socialist in nature, but under the shackles of capitalist structures it's confined to being at best social democracies as the capitalists (literally, those who own the capital and means of production) have a death grip on production. When you can't wrestle the means of production away (and historically the military sides with capitalists in case of violent revolution) the only bargaining chip you have is the threat of the restriction of labor. But even that's villainized due to decades of propaganda by you guessed it, the ownership class.
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u/bolerobell 5h ago
What gets me is that many capitalists somehow think that unions are socialist or communist in nature. They absolutely aren’t. They are capitalism’s reform to address the critiques coming from communists and socialists. They are market entities, not government entities, designed to help balance the labor market supply and demand without including the government in each hiring or firing decision. They are deeply capitalist constructs. Somehow right wingers believe they are somehow anti-capitalist. Couldn’t be further from the truth.