Labor Unions

I’ve belonged to several unions over the years and had one unifying thread running through the experience; each time the union took my money and misrepresented my interests.

• I joined the musicians’ union one summer in order play in a series of park concerts. The union charge me $60 dues for a gig that only paid about $90. They made more off the gig than I did.
• I was forced to join the IBEW when I worked for the Railroad (Illinois permitted “closed shops”). Month after month they took my dues but failed to act on a minor contract change that all employees involved advocated, and that management desired. As the change only affected about 8 workers, the union couldn’t be bothered.
• I voluntarily joined the mail handlers’ union when I worked at the post office, but as an electronics technician my interests were often used as a bargaining chip in the interest of the more numerous mail handlers. At the end of a year I opted out of the union, but if you didn’t time the paperwork just right you were on the hook for another year.

Each of these unions was free to apply my dues toward whatever political causes they liked. That practice should be more difficult. Union political activities should be reported, in detail, to membership annually, and members should be asked specifically, on a yearly basis, to confirm their approval of such activities. The member should be able to withhold that portion of dues supporting political activities.

Unions do have their place. For example, in the railroads the unions were historically the only force that worked to ensure worker safety under very dangerous circumstances. (Workman’s comp doesn’t cover railroad employees because of the historically dangerous work environment.) I think there are areas of the new “information economy” that workers’ interest might be well served by collective bargaining. But, there are also several US industries that have been ruined in large part by union activity. Today our automobile and airline industries are on the brink of bankruptcy after years of decline. All the while union leadership has worked tirelessly in their own interest.

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