> I read it had to do with the corporate raider buyouts of the 80's. Companies discovered that they could shed liabilities to employees this way. I was around

> I read it had to do with the corporate raider buyouts of the 80's. Companies discovered that they could shed liabilities to employees this way. I was around for the LBO bubble and the days of Michael Milken, and I'd probably argue even that was a consequence of the neutering of unions: If the unions had still been powerful (and perhaps less corrupt), they would have struck at the first company they could. By making an example of one company, perhaps bankrupting it, they could have scared off future LBO attempts. Of course, greasing the palms of a few union leaders likely occurred during some of those LBOs. Perhaps the union model requires having saints for leaders, so add it to the list of why unions failed.