Social interest

Given higher oil and gas prices, oil companies found it to their advantage to increase domestic exploration of oil and gas. This exploration however was frequently in remote and inhospitable areas such as the north slope of Alaska or offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. How could oil companies find thousands of additional workers they needed and how could they induce these workers to move to where the drilling was? The obvious answer is that wages rose until enough oil field workers in Texas and Oklahoma and school teachers and unemployed auto workers in Michigan for example found it to their advantage to voluntarily move to Alaska or to seek work on the off-shore rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Without any centralized direction the operation of the labor market brought about a redistribution of labor resources that served the self-interest of both the oil companies and workers as well as the social interest of the country at large.

Since we are in contract negotiation, the wages need to rise for the self-interest of both the employer and workers as well as the social interest of the country at large.