Union Thugs? No Kidding

Unions: An Ohio contractor was wounded by gunfire Wednesday by a shadowy man vandalizing his SUV with union threats. Where's Washington's outrage at such lawlessness?

Had King Electrical Services owner John King been shot by, say, a Tea Partyer, there'd be no end to the public pontificating from Washington's politicians and media commentators about their rhetoric or protests inciting violence.

It's quite a different story for the Lambertville, Mich., contractor who woke up in the dead of night a week ago found a silhouetted figure on his driveway spraying "SCAB" on the side of his vehicle. The figure fired a gun at him before fleeing.

Good work Dr. 2B. Private sector unions are as anti-freedom as public sector groups. They are not VOLUNTARY associations, they are COMPULSORY. They are protectionist, and block free entry and free trade by more able or productive entrants, a.k.a., competing workers. This denies both the firm owner AND the consumer the economic right to freely trade with the person they’d like.

The “right” to collectively bargain is not a “right.”

Taking away or blocking other people’s rights isn’t “a right.” It is a VIOLATION of basic rights.

I always ask the union members at the college where I teach economics: “Why do I need to get the “approval” of a majority of my fellow employees, before I negotiate and sign my OWN contract? I am a free person, I decide when I am ‘exploited,’ NO ONE ELSE. ‘Collective bargaining’ isn’t just, moral or orderly — it’s tyranny of a majority of individual rights.”

They always ask me, “Hey, why not simply participate in the union? Otherwise your voice won’t be heard!”

See how dumb these folks are? It isn’t a matter of getting the “perfect” collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that concerns me; I OPPOSE “COLLECTIVIST” BARGAINING, PERIOD!!!

Of course, if there is a workplace hazard, such as toxic substances that are harming people on the grounds, then THAT IS WHAT LAW SUITS ARE FOR. But really — do we NEED top-down, ‘central planning’ of each person’s salary, benefits, retirement, work hours, etc etc - equal pay, even for the most negligent and the most productive worker, and seniority based promotion, even if BETTER ENTRANTS are out there, to REPLACE THESE PROTECTED UNIONIZED FOOLS?

How is that honoring the peaceful RIGHTS of the customers — and the shop (capital) OWNER?

Unions protect themselves through legal force from peaceful free trade and continuous beneficial competition

In turn, they reduce and treat customers AND investing entrepreneurs as their SLAVES.

Let’s recap, shall we: Both Public AND PRIVATE COMPULSORY UNIONS:

1. Violate the economic freedoms of business people (capital owners, entrepreneurs)
2. Violate the economic freedoms of prospective new entrants (more able, skilled, friendly and productive competitors)
3.Violate the economic freedoms of consumers (who want good service at the most efficient cost or price — and when unions command a high, protected wage, they aren’t “exploited” — BUT NOW THE CUSTOMERS AND CAPITAL OWNERS ARE!!! So much for Economic Justice.)

Free trade is a human right, as much of a human right as choosing who you will take as your marriage partner. It is an intimately personal decision — the choice of whom to hire to babysit for your children, of whom to paint your family portrait, of whom you will pay to take care of your teeth, or treat your beloved pet dog. NO MAJORITY, NO OTHER PERSON, has the authority to “DECIDE” your economic trades. Only cowardly, collectivist, protectionist tyrants believe they “deserve” the power to violently take this right away from you.

The idea of Majority rule or ‘economic democracy’ (as the compulsory unionists like to call it) in the setting of work hours, individual salaries and terms of trade in markets is nothing more than majority-tyranny.

It has NO PLACE in a civil society of free people.

The most important thing in your post is the part about workplace hazards. I would have replaced “law suit” with “regulation” but we get the point. There are TWO ways to handle workplace safety...

ONE - create gov’t sanctioned unions that give BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to Obama and Franken every year, or ...

TWO - simply write a few regulations about fire exits, etc. I’m not crazy about regulation, of course, but TEN TRILLION regs (which put ZERO dollars in Obama’s pocket) are better than even ONE union.

The number of conservatives!!! (EVEN ON THIS FORUM) who say we need unions for workplace safety is simply mind boggling, and is indicative of how successful media brain washing is; if even some of us fall for it, the country is screwed.

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