The Law As Blackmail
David Bernstein is discussing his forthcoming book Rehabilitating Lochner: Defending Individual Rights against Progressive Reform
The good stuff begins about 4 minutes in. The title of the post comes about 7:20 into the audio. The short version: a case of union extortion gone mad. Note: when I worked for a union packing house in Omaha we regularly had to do unpaid overtime. One day I messed up and didn't punch out until I was leaving the floor and the union steward was kind enough to "fix" my time card.
Unions do provide some worker protection, but the thing they are the very best at is providing union protection. They have in fact reached their peak in the competitive sector of the economy with the bail out of Government Motors. In the coercive sector of the economy (government) the peak has not yet been reached. It is coming.
Cross Posted at Classical Values
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1 comment:
Heh, I've been represented by unions twice. In both cases, the deal I had before the union came in was better than the deal I got after I union representation. Much more so if you count union dues.
I've seen worse as a close-range observer. Threats of personal violence, overt racial discrimination, union leaders that call multi-year strikes two weeks after their own (cushy) retirement date. Nasty stuff.
Maybe there was a time when unions were necessary. Maybe they still are necessary. But the American union movement as it currently exists doesn't function as the representative of its members, so it needs to just go away.
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