Where do you draw the line on that argument? Was the Victorian child labour cool too because they were willing to do it? Were the labour unions employees bad for everyone involved? If not, why not?
Children used to work because they had to in order to survive. The choices were work or starve to death. Taking away the option to work obviously makes them worse off. This plays out today when western countries force labor laws in countries like Bangladesh. When the children can no longer work in factories they often have to resort to prostitution.
The question of labor unions is a different issue. Labor unions do benefit their members who do get raises because of their actions. They do not benefit the people who will no longer get hired because the cost of labor is now higher. They do not benefit workers in other industries because the prices they will pay will be higher and displaced workers will enter their industry lowering their wages. Labor unions harm society at large in order to benefit their memebers.
