The Bloggers' Union

The study of unions does not seem to be an important part of labor economics any longer--mainly because the U.S. union movement is much less important today than it used to be and there really aren't any pressing questions to motivate economists to revisit the issue. So it was something of an eye-opener when I ran across this story:

Do bloggers need their own Norma Rae?

In a move that might make some people scratch their heads, a loosely formed coalition of left-leaning bloggers are trying to band together to form a labor union they hope will help them receive health insurance, conduct collective bargaining or even set professional standards.

I hate to burst the happy ideological bubble these bloggers are living in, but: who exactly is the employer that you are going to be negotiating with? And who exactly is going to pay your higher salary and health benefits?

Comments

[Greg Weeks]

The article says that as a group they hope to find discounts for health care, not necessarily that they'd try to identify a non-existent employer. Even getting bloggers together to agree on anything, though, seems unlikely.

[Mario]

Wouldn't it be great, though, if all of the bloggers that believed in the magical benefit granting aether went on strike for an extended period of time?

[tom]

I agree with Mario. My hope is that all of the left-leaning bloggers will go on strike until their demands are met!