Labor Unions

CAN I BE FORCED TO JOIN A UNION?

America’s greatness has been built on choice and freedom. Yet, the federal government continues to try to threaten this greatness by using rhetoric to enact reforms that are harmful to freedom and the economy. One example is labor policy. The proposed so called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) would replace secret ballot organizing elections with publicly signed union cards (Card Check), allowing union organizers to deceive, harass, and threaten workers into signing these cards and thereby unionizing. Another dangerous provision being promoted by some leaders is mandatory binding arbitration, which would have the federal government decide the terms of contracts between employers and unions if the two are unable to come to an agreement. Further, collective bargaining is a threat to a free market economy, as workers collectively bargain over wages and work places, removing the employee’s individual right to negotiate terms with his or her employer. As the government controls more decisions of employers and employees, businesses will become less innovative and competitive. Many states have shown initiative to fight for employee choice by passing right to work laws, ensuring that every employee has the right to choose whether or not to be involved in a union. This is definitely an area requiring attention to ensure that our dynamic free market economy is not further hampered by burdensome labor policy.  

The numbers – 2009 Rasmussen polling indicated that only 9 percent of non-union workers wanted to join a union, including those afraid of losing their jobs in the future.[i] The Bureau of Labor Statics (BLS) reported in 2009 that union membership was at 12.4 percent in 2008, with approximately 88 percent of Americans being non-union workers.[ii] As unions fear a decline in membership, they are seeking help from our elected officials to make it easier (and legal) to use force to get employees to join a union.

Card check – The Alliance for Worker Freedom, www.workerfreedom.org, reports that the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, which would enact “card check,” would take away numerous rights and protections currently afforded to workers employed at companies where unions are actively seeking to organize. Such policy would remove the current right that employees have to a secret ballot election. If card-check is successful, employees will have to write down their vote in front of union organizers and co-workers, creating a strong potential for intimidation. The union is recognized once they have votes from a majority of the employees. Union officials could go to employees’ homes with a card for them to sign – and they could keep doing so until the employee signs the card. This is completely contradictory with the freedom Americans have to make their own individual choices – in this case, whether or not to join a union. Imagine how “fair” a U.S. Presidential Election would be if the political parties could come to your door asking you to cast your vote for their candidate, and that they continued doing so until you voted as they wished – knowing they would see your vote. This is a direct violation of America’s foundational principles of democracy. 

“Since when is the secret ballot a basic tenet of democracy?”
 – James Hoffa, Teamsters Union President[iii]

10^th Amendment Alert – “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” The federal government does not have the authority to force people to join unions or to decide union contracts and take over employer and employee decisions about wages and benefits.

Mandatory, binding arbitration – Imagine if every time we were in disagreement with someone, the government would step in and decide the dispute for us. That is exactly what mandatory binding arbitration would do with disputes between employers and unions. Shika Dalmia wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “EFCA will take away the right of workers to vote to form a union, and then binding arbitration will take away their right to vote on a contract.”[iv] She also highlighted a study by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Michigan, showing that Michigan’s binding arbitration laws have been ineffective, with the average time involved in a case being 15 months instead of the four and a half month period prescribed by law. Furthermore, when an arbitration board is making the decision, they do not have to face long term consequences, but are only concerned with solving the dispute quickly. Dalmia continued, “The only clear winners under this law would be the union bosses, who will obtain new powers without any new accountability.” Jonathan Johnson, CEO of Overstock.com wrote, “Binding arbitration says to me we are going to have federal agents come in and determine what the labor contracts are going to be.” He continued, stating that the end result of binding arbitration would be the “nationalization of small businesses by the federal government.”[v]

Collective bargaining is another element of unionization that is counter to free market economics. It is when unionized employees trust the union to negotiate a set wage, preventing them from being paid more if they create more value for the business, or being paid less if they create less value for the business.

Bad for the Economy: A 2009 survey of 925 labor economists revealed a growing consensus among experts that increased unionization would have a negative effect on the economy.[vi] Nearly two-thirds of economists surveyed believe Congress should not pass the Employee Free Choice Act. When informed of the binding arbitration component of the bill, the economists’ limited support for the bill decreased even more. A strong majority of the economists also stated they believe an increase in unionization would have a negative effect on job creation efforts. The poll was conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center for the Center for Union Facts. The Center for Union Facts, www.unionfacts.org, is another great resource to learn about this issue.

Right to Work: Right to Work laws secure the right of individual employees to decide whether or not to become involved in a union. However, employees who work in the rail or airline industries are not covered by right to work laws, neither are some who work on a federal enclave. There are currently 22 Right to Work states.[vii] For more information, the National Right to Work Committee is an excellent resource – www.nrtwc.org.

The key point is that a healthy, dynamic economy requires freedom and competition. Labor policy is increasing becoming a back door for the government to come in and begin making decisions intended to be made by employees, employers, and the free market.

Friedrich Hayek, on unions – “They have become uniquely privileged institutions to which the general rules of law do not apply” (p. 267).

Conclusion – Unions have created a realm void of the rule of law. Rather than looking for ways to decrease this trend, many leaders are looking for ways to further justify and legalize this hijacking of the free market by unions in the name of “employee free choice.” If they truly trusted “employee free choice,” they would not fear employees choosing against unions. While employees have the right to choose to join a union, they should also have a right to not join a union. The so called Employee Free Choice Act, and policies such as card check, mandatory binding arbitration, and collective bargaining are all attempts to give business and employee decisions to government bureaucrats. Policies including right to work laws are steps in the right direction to prevent unions and federal bureaucrats from dictating decisions for employers and employees. The free market system does not need to be “corrected” by giving the federal government a more hands-on direct role in economic decisions.