Hard Work
October 16, 2008
It almost made me cry to hear that Ryan Frazier‘s position on “right to work for less” was about “principle” and “freedom.” What a joke, and what a shame for Frazier and his party hacks to pretend that they are acting to protect rank-and-file employees. Joel Warner‘s article was well researched, but he should have discussed the differences between public and private unions. Many public-sector unions do not bargain on wages, and the goals of the agencies are about public safety versus profit. Employee working conditions are a critical component of the mission and the public interest. I work in a federal prison and can attest to the importance of collective bargaining in order to help maintain safety standards. The passage of Amendment 47 would essentially turn many unions into social clubs and greatly damage the collective voice of firefighters, law enforcement officials, medical staff and employees throughout the state.
Union shops are no different than any other form of representative democracy. Consider these questions: Why do people still have to pay taxes when we disagree with our elected officials? Why do those officials get to make decisions for all of us? Why are so many people required to pay homeowner association fees? Why do people who claim to believe in due process of law, checks and balances and equal justice abandon those beliefs when it comes to democracy in the workplace?
I certainly understand why people sometimes disagree with labor unions. It is called democracy. And when you remove it from the workplace, you remove it from society.
Original link: “Strange Union,” Joel Warner, October 16