Crushing unions is partly to blame here. I've got relatives whose families have been working in the mining industry for a few generations. They all lament the good old days that are long gone now.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/release/tables?rid=50&eid=4881#s...
Indeed, the three countries listed in the report as being better than the US all have EXTREMELY strong machinist/metalworking unions.
Japan: JAM
Italy: FIOM
And Germany, with probably the most powerful union in the entire world: IGM
The problem isn't unions.
The problem is the parasite MBA class, shuffling memos and spreadsheets around to make it look like they're doing something.
raising the marginal cost of labor lessens the amount of labor hired. there is no scenario in which it leads to more people working the job. unionized labor did not make it harder to offshore - in fact it accelerated offshoring, automation, and a shift to manufacturing in the South of the country.
having lower costs of goods usually benefits the economy more than more prosperous labor (not necessarily the local economy), although the net welfare increasing thing is context dependent. in competitive markets, vast majority of labor cost decreases are captured by the consumer.