I can't tell if Jagdish Baghwati is being coy in his analysis of the union movement or is simply pretty detached from that sphere of inquiry, but in any case, the reason the AFL-CIO is more focused on trade than the SEIU is not because the two have an intellectual disagreement over the causes of wage stagnation, but because the AFl-CIO represents lots of manufacturing workers who make things that China can make cheaper while the SEIU represents a lot of service workers whose jobs can't be outsourced. All that said, Baghwati's writing in support of card check, and, as you might expect from a piece in which globalization's foremost academic defender argues for more unions, it's a weird piece. You sort of get the feeling that Baghwati supports stronger unions on the bankshot hope that the passage of EFCA will get the unions to focus on organizing companies and stop worrying so much about trade agreements. But read for yourself. BAGHWATI ON EFCA.
I can't tell if Jagdish Baghwati is being coy in his analysis of the union movement or is simply pretty detached from that sphere of inquiry, but in any case, the reason the AFL-CIO is more focused on trade than the SEIU is not because the two have an intellectual disagreement over the causes of wage stagnation, but because the AFl-CIO represents lots of manufacturing workers who make things that China can make cheaper while the SEIU represents a lot of service workers whose jobs can't be outsourced. All that said, Baghwati's writing in support of card check, and, as you might expect from a piece in which globalization's foremost academic defender argues for more unions, it's a weird piece. You sort of get the feeling that Baghwati supports stronger unions on the bankshot hope that the passage of EFCA will get the unions to focus on organizing companies and stop worrying so much about trade agreements. But read for yourself. 
