Good point. Good take on the successful business world. But that is a perfect world, too. Is it necessarily conservative philosophy to hire/fire at will? I have a conservative philosophy, so I wonder.
But, you know, Boeing is very successful and it still works with its unions. I wonder how that happened? I think if management is smart, they can use unions to their advantage.
For example, because of all the scandals going on there, they wanted all employees to sign an ethics commitment. Many employees refused, but the union supported it, so union members complied. It worked well for the company.
The company has a strong cohesive workforce in its union membership that the Company can use to its advantage, if it is smart. I know some engineering management leaders that are doing just that. I think both sides benefit. It might be really hard to bust the union, so maybe it is smarter to work with it? Don't know what's best.
I'm hopeful that it will evolve into what you want, since Boeing will likely not bust the union.
Hiring and firing at will is covered by the freedom of association, in my view. I don't want to have the obligation, as an employer, to hire transexuals and poofers, for example.