Labor Unions have been around along time. Since the Industrial Revolution when there were no rules, regulations or laws to govern the new workplace of the 19th century factory.  Labor unions formed to fight for worker rights when government was not willing or ready to do so. It was a chaotic and often violent time. Not until the Great Depression did unions become legally accepted and common in the workplace in the United States. As for the two major parties it has usually been the Democrats who have supported the cause of Organized Labor. But here and there as we'll hear in this episode Coolidge, Eisenhower, Nixon and Ford were friends of labor occasionally in their words and actions. But Organized Labor and Union membership peaked in 1954 and has been fading consistently for the last 65 years. Part of the reason may be the rules and laws governing labor have become woefully out of date and ineffective to support the cause of workers. There are other reasons as well. The union cause has been plagued by corruption on a wide scale. Sure there are the hard to believe stories of Jimmy Hoffa and union ties to organized crime and perhaps even the assassination of John Kennedy. We may never know for sure. But what is certain is that unions across the country have experienced embezzlement, extortion, destruction of documents and crimes of violence.  Evidence shows it was not isolated and it was not just a long time ago. Since 2000 the statistics are appalling. Unions have fallen from one third of all workers to barely one in 20 in the private sector belonging to a union today. Unions have had more success with jobs in the public sector. But not so much with employers recently like Volkswagen in Chattanooga or Amazon in Alabama. With some appeal occurring during Trump's presidency, Republicans have an opening with unions going forward with Democrats getting cozier with Big Business and straddling a tight rope on certain issues. For one, Democrats may be forced to choose between supporting police unions and fighting for racial justice when minorities and law enforcement intersect.  An interesting and possibly exciting possibility concerns the idea of a conservative union movement such as has never existed in the United States. People like Oren Cass of the American Compass think tank believe that done right, unions and conservatives could be a marriage that makes a lot of sense -- for unions and for those of the center-right.  We'll explain how proven ideas such as sectoral bargaining and voluntary worker councils (if they would be permitted) could create a conservative labor force that worked collaboratively and even harmoniously with management.  Reading that last sentence has to make one wonder if this is to happen before or after pigs can fly. But it can happen, if the National Labor Relations Act is updated and workers and management are given the power and flexibility to work together for a change. Going hand in glove with these concepts is another known as Common Good Capitalism, an idea who's time has come.  It is based on reestablishing the bond and contract between workers and employers where each is given rights as well as responsibilities. When unions are freed to work WITH management and Common Good Capitalism is ubiquitous then we will have advanced to a place even Adam Smith would marvel at in its ingenuity and effectiveness.