Forum Post: Unions and Workers’ Rights

the grassroots labor movement withered. One casualty was the National Federation of Mine Laborers, which had been the parent union of Lewis’ UMWA. The parent constitution had established a network of decentralized and largely autonomous “Lodges.” When Lewis became President, he did away with both the decentralized structure and the autonomy. The Wagner Act completed the centralization of control. It was a scenario that other Big Labor leaders were happy to play out.

Thus, at its creation, the modern union was an arrangement of shared advantage between Big Labor, Big Business, and Big Government. The relationships were not always cordial but they were basically convenient.

Among those victimized were smaller employers, the grassroots labor movement, and self-employed or non-unionized workers.

CONCLUSION

Could unions exist without legal privileges?

Voluntary unions have existed in the past and would almost certainly arise today if workers perceived a benefit to them. The clout of a voluntary union would come from members who freely assign their rights of contract. In modern unions the opposite transfer occurs. Even members who join freely cannot quit or negotiate later for themselves. Thus, the modern union strips individual workers of free association and the right of of contract. It should be abolished for the sake of workers’ rights.

http://lfb.org/today/unions-and-workers-rights/