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Unions break the whole concept of free market labor. In a free market labor situation the employer and each employee as an individual negotiate the compensation. Once there's a union in place all the negotiating is done en mas via the collective bargaining agreement (which often is the standard enforced on all employers in that field), part of which forbid the employer from hiring non-union labor. At that point the union has effectively captured the market and is a defacto monopoly source of labor for anyone in that field and can do things like dictate prices for labor far in excess to the fair market value, or just generaly rule the industry. Just look at some of the "negotiating points" in the MLB non-strike, their labor union is telling the frnachise owners how to run their business, all the way from the perentage of labor costs to the advertising budget. It's crazy how deep in the unions stick their fingers, in many industries the union has more control than the board, there are no limits as to what can be in a CBA, and the price of violating it is to lose your entire work force.

I hear ya bud! ALL unions are evil!!!!!! Lets do away with em all!!!!! Makes me misty eyed thinking about the good ol days and concept of free market labor.

Heck, you could get a 20 hour day out of these rascals and not pay a cent of OT. Har har har

I totally disagree about collective bargaining breaking the entire concept of free markets.

The only way a worker has any leverage over an employer is through collective bargaining; without it, each worker is totally at the mercy of the employer. Why do you businesses went through such an effort to "union bust" during the early part of the 20th century? Obviously because collective bargaining levels the playing field--businesses have lost the advantage it once had over individuals because of collective bargaining. This is especially true in traditionally "blue collar" positions, since labor there, as a general rule, is much more plentiful than "white collar" positions.

Collective bargaining is the only way the worker can negotiate on even footing with ownership. It furthers the market, and that's a good thing. If you want to discuss politics of most labor unions, that's an entirely different subject, but unions have done a lot for labor in this country, and that's not a bad thing. "Labor" is not a bad word, as I think most people would have us believe.