Summer is (debatably) over but ‘tis still the season for striking as workers keep the streaking strike going into the fall. Labor unrest is seen by many people as a sign of a sour economy, when struggling workers push for higher pay to better cope with a downturn. But Council of Economic Advisers Chair Jared Bernstein claims the highest profile labor fight at the moment—a walkout by auto workers for better pay, the return of pensions, and a shortened work week—is actually a sign the economy is doing well.
“There’s this mythology that you can’t have a strong macro economy and have striking workers, I think that’s demonstrably wrong,” Bernstein said this past Tuesday at a conference hosted by Politico, adding that it’s because the economy is so strong that workers are able to push for a “fair slice.”
