Barone on Unions and Taylor

Michael Barone writes an interesting article for The Washington Examiner on the interaction between unions and Frederick W. Taylor's "scientific management." His point is that American unions became what they are in opposition to private firms utilizing Taylorism to make work more efficient and more hateful.

Public employee unions have copied the successful private unions (e.g., UAW, UMW) in controlling work rules, fighting merit pay, insisting on seniority as the basis for promotion, etc. Oddly, public employers have rarely, if ever, utilized the principles Talyor espoused, principles that shaped private employer unions.