Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

Many years ago unions were created to counteract uncontested employer exploitation. Private business is Capitalism with its focus on profits, so workers united as the only defense against the employer's might, and it worked. In fact, the Trade Unions were so successful at equalizing the playing field, both in a legal sense & in the public consciousness, that private union membership has been in decline ever since, because who wants to pay dues or have another level of management if they don't have to? But have no doubt, unions will come roaring back if the pendulum shifts off center.

Americans support private unions, and most private unions get a pass from me because they are in an adversarial relationship with business: sometimes I'm on their side, sometimes I'm not, but que sera sera. Employees are no less subject to the base motives of resentment, envy & control than the managers at the companies they work for, so there's no side-of-the-angels here: either management or labor can be trying to exploit the other which is understandable, and as long as the negotiations are honest attempts, it's simply part of the Market Forces that keeps America advancing.

Unions are exempted from anti-monopoly laws which is a disgrace because, unfortunately, some unions, like at the ports & railroads, often seem to be trying to leverage their monopolistic advantage. People don't like monopolies, so another generation of youth end up forming negative impressions of unions because of a few unscrupulous bad actors. Also, unions often try to justify their grabs for more power by complaining about the unequal power of business, and they have a point with some of the recent Supreme Court decisions, but the solution is not to make unions stronger, imposing even more liberty burden on private citizens, instead the focus should be on reducing the power of business.