Solidarity Unionism and Two-Tiered Contracts

This story on the solidarity shown by Kohler’s workers in their recent strike in which 94% of the workers voted yes for striking shows how counterproductive two-tiered contracts are for corporations. The story of the two-tiered contracts is fairly well known, where companies force unions to accept a lower-paid tier for new workers without any way for them to rise to the wages made by the coworkers. Most notoriously, the auto companies forced the United Auto Workers into this during the recession. It has really infuriated workers for years now, with older workers not just looking out for their own interests, but rather voting to strike to help the newer workers achieve living wages. It’s really hard to eliminate these tiers entirely, but at least Kohler’s workers forced the company to significantly raise the lower tier. One wonders if it isn’t just worth it for the companies to eliminate these tiers entirely.