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> > point to the weekend as a lovely innovation powered by unions. > No, this is powered by the law.

Those laws were a consequence of industrial action by unions. Here's a backgrounder on the progress made by unions in Australia.

<https://www.australianunions.org.au/about-unions/union-achie...>

Every year, Australian employees are entitled to 4 weeks of paid annual leave, two weeks of paid sick leave, 6 months of paid long service leave after 10 years of employment, about 10% of their salary paid into their retirement investments (superannuation).

Unions even up the negotiation power imbalance between employers and workers. Union power has been severely curtailed over the last few decades and as a consequence workers have seen stagnant wages, rising inequality of compensation and the rise of insecure work.

There's plenty of evidence to support the assertion that collective bargaining leads to better outcomes for workers. A rising tide lifts all boats.

Links chosen from a cursory web search:

<https://www.ehstoday.com/safety/article/21918297/new-study-s...>

<https://www.epi.org/blog/union-decline-rising-inequality-cha...>




> Those laws were a consequence of industrial action by unions.

You didn’t read my message, because this is what I already said. Unions helped push it into law. The unions are all but dead in the US, but weekends are still here because it is a law. What value do the unions provide now?




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