From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Nov 17 2002 - 19:43:46 MST
--- Greg Burch <gregburch@gregburch.net> wrote:
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Alexander Sheppard
> > I have a question for people who regard themselves as
> > anarcho-capitalists,
> > or, as I think is really a better term for this set of ideas,
> > proprietarians. What of unions?
>
> As I became more and more libertarian in my social and political
> thinking in the 80s and 90s, my ideas about unions evolved
> significantly. That process continues now. However, I can say these
> things about the current state of my thinking:
>
> To the extent a union is seen as an organized seller of labor, I see
> no reason why a union and a particular buyer of labor shouldn't be
> able to make an exclusive contract, i.e. ABC Widget Co. ought to
> be able to make a contract with The International Brotherhood of
> Widget Wrights to exclusively hire members of the IBWW.
> Likewise, I see no reason why widget wrights shouldn't be able to
> voluntarily band together in a union
> or that the IBWW shouldn't have a membership rule requiring that its
> members contribute some sum of money to the operation of the IBWW.
I agree completely. This is probably why Mr. Sheppard has problems,
since it is generally assumed by the left that libertarianism of the
American sort is anti-union.
In my current employment, my workplace is going through the initial
process of unionizing, as wages have been static while the company has
remained profitable through the recession (the only subsidiary of its
parent corporation to remain so). The annual raise issued last week was
less than the increase in health insurance issued at the same time. We
are the only non-unionized shop in the entire corporate structure of
Greyhound, and we earn 30% less than our unionized counterparts. We are
paid as hourly employees, yet must buy and maintain our own equipment
(tools, which in total cost run to $3000-$10,000 per mechanic) as if we
were subcontractors.
Local cost of living has increased such that, for example, a basic one
bedroom apartment costs half of my monthly income, where economists
generally say that housing should consume no more than 25-30% of one's
income. This is an ideal situation in which unionism is an entirely
appropriate response by labor to corporate exploitation, even from the
most anti-union libertarian perspective.
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