Staying on the Job

   There were just 15 major work stoppages last year, as Americans continued the downward trend of labor action in disputes with employers. In the past 10 years, there was a total of 143 major incidents, some 10 percent of the total three decades earlier, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the 10 years from 1977 to 1986, there was a total of 1,446 major work stoppages throughout the country.
   The BLS has been collecting such data for 70 years. In the first 10 years, from 1947 to 1956, employees staged 3,438 work stoppages. That number dropped by more than half during the 1977-1986 period, to 1,446, and continued to fall over the next three decades to the most recent period, 2007-2016, when just 143 major stoppages occurred.
   One conclusion could be that workers are increasingly satisfied with wages and working conditions, so firm action against employers is not as essential as a negotiating tactic. Another could be that firms are more amenable to negotiating with unions.
   Still another could be that the nature of America's economy and its workforce has changed from predominantly manufacturing as it was after World War II to one that emphasizes services, information and marketing.
   In that context, talk by politicians to bring back manufacturing and its high paying jobs is just that -- talk, since the nation's economy has changed.
Even in the manufacturing sector, technology has advanced sharply, so fewer workers can produce more stuff, even as those fewer workers are paid more for their higher skills than the previous generation of workers.
   Here's one result of American workers and their increased value: The international trade deficit faded again in December, to $44.3 million, according to Census Bureau, a drop of 3.2 percent. Exports in December totaled $190.7 billion in value, some $5 billion more than in November. Imports also rose, to a total value of $235 billion in December, some $3.6 billion more than in November.
   Meanwhile, here's a concept to keep in mind whenever political candidates lament trade deficits: Over time, international trade, always balances. Why? For the same reason that a family incurs a negative balance when buying a house or a car. A worker gets a positive balance by receiving a paycheck, and spends money when buying groceries. Over time, things balance out.