"We unfortunately have too many people willing to take these jobs at the pay and benefits / conditions offered." Our economic system demands that most people m

"We unfortunately have too many people willing to take these jobs at the pay and benefits / conditions offered." Our economic system demands that most people must work some kind of job in order to have shelter and food. Some people are working 2 or 3 terrible jobs because that's what is needed to make rent. They can't hold out for a job that provides a humane level of pay and working conditions. Furthermore, capitalist economies rely on a certain percentage of workers (roughly 5%) are unemployed at any given time. This creates an environment where workers are generally desperate and bosses have power. It's barbaric that a certain number of people are guaranteed to be unemployed when employment is required to have shelter, food, and healthcare. The COVID pandemic did a lot of weird things that moved some power to workers. There were stronger unemployment protections and eviction moratoriums, so more workers could actually afford to hold out for better offers as unemployment was not awful. And the unemployment rate dropped as workers took early retirement or, frankly, died. Now pandemic protections are ending and inflation is eating into those wage gains. The way workers gain any lasting power is to gain stronger bargaining power. That means unions.