The antagonism between business and organized labor is not inevitable.But when employees are considered disposable, businesses can become less interested in protecting them. When workers are taken care of, everyone benefits. When labor costs more, employers invest more in training and equipment, which improves workplace morale and boosts productivity. Unionized workers typically elect representatives to bring their concerns to the union’s attention. Labor unions join workers together, allowing the voices of individual workers to be heard and made into a goal of the whole union. If the entire workforce is made aware of the need for the new measure and bands together to pressure the company to install it, there is a much greater chance that the company will comply. For instance, a single worker might feel that a certain new safety measure should be implemented in his factory, but he might have limited power to get the company to install the new measure. Collective bargaining occurs when a group of people, such as the workforce at a company, bands together to increase its negotiating power. Until then, union member claims and demands should be treated for what they are: the forced confessions of a bunch of hostages.Collective bargaining is the heart and soul of the labor union. Only then can they claim that they are speaking for the "rights" of their members. If unions are to have any moral legitimacy, they need to start by making their memberships optional. Their mere existence disproves the necessity of the union. An independently successful worker is an anathema to a union. They're about power, which comes from numbers, specifically coerced members and their coerced dues. It should be patently repulsive to any person who believes in the primacy of the individual.īut unions aren't about the individual. To say that workers have no right NOT to join a union is to say that workers are the slaves of the union, that they are the property of that union, and that their "rights" are somehow bestowed by the union itself. And that's the point: there is no retort. See how fast their carefully rehearsed talking points turn to so much illogical blubber. The next time you're at a town hall meeting listening to some politician (who's perhaps receiving massive financial support from a union) pontificate about "workers' rights", ask them that question. "Do you support workers' rights, specifically, the right to not join a union?" Isn't that what the entire legal profession exists for anyway? Why be forced to pay for a service you aren't using? Should the teacher feel they need a lawyer, they'll have no trouble finding one. Maybe they'd gladly turn down the union's legal representation should something like that be required. Or maybe they'd accept a lower wage in return for more flexible work practices or policies. In the teachers' case, maybe they'd be offered a higher wage, or faster advancement opportunities, in return for not having absurd tenure policies. How about the union retort that such non-unionized employees would enjoy the same wages, benefits and policies "fought for" (just who are they fighting against?) by the union? Simple: who's to say that non-unionized employees would have those same wages, benefits and policies? Indeed, they might not want them. I'll speak for myself."?Īgain, "Do you support workers' rights, specifically, the right to not join a union?" And if that third party wants to charge a fee for those services, fine.īut what of the worker that says, "No thanks. Maybe it's just plain more efficient for them to do so. If a group of workers wants to be represented by a third party and have that third party speak for them, negotiate for them, be politically active for them, God bless 'em. Where are the workers' rights here? How about the right to control one's compensation through one's own effort and results? They need to also reconcile things like Last In, First Out with the common business practice of meritocracy. If teachers want higher pay, for example, they need to first grapple with the reality that their union rules prevent higher pay for those teachers most deserving of it. Being outraged at the practices of a teachers union does not correspond to being outraged at teachers. It's high time we stop allowing the recent truth-telling about unions to be cast as attacks on their so-called members and their corresponding professions.
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