What should the role of organized labor be in today's society?  It's pretty clear that the current system doesn't work.  One only has to look at the three major unionized industries: airline, auto, and government, as well the most unionized state, Michigan, to realize that something is broken.

Workers deserve some rights.   They make non-trivial commitments to their employers.  On the other hand, business must retain its ability to be nimble; it has to be able to respond to rapidly changing market dynamics.  If it can't, we'll only see more and more jobs move overseas—obviously, the worst of all outcomes for U.S. labor. 

If there is a solution, my sense is that it involves retraining.  But, in what form?  Can we afford to impose some additional tax on business, the revenue from which would be used to fund the retraining of displaced workers?  U.S. corporate taxes are already the second highest in the industrialized world.  There is growing pressure to reduce those taxes in order to make U.S. business more competitive, and to encourage greater investment in America?

Is there a bipartisan compromise?  Why not cut corporate taxes across the board by 10%, but impose a new business tax of 5% that would be directed toward training programs for displaced workers?  If the experience of all other industrialized nations who have cut corporate taxes is a guide, revenue to the government would rise substantially, business here and abroad would be incented to form/expand in the U.S., and millions of jobs would be created.  Moreover, business would not lose its flexibility to respond to changing market/competitive conditions, and workers would have a retraining safety net to mitigate the sting of dislocation.

It can't be worse than the current system.