The Union Fix - Part 1

Photo by Bill Burke

Any non-imbecile can tell you that unions have exacerbatedthe decline in manufacturing in the United States. Their demands made upon the threat of work stoppages have enabled themto amass pension funds that have crippled the likes of Ford, GM, and Chrysler.  Many States and municipalities are likewisestumbling under the weight of massive public employee union pensionprograms.  Like the foreign substanceinvading a festering wound, we must winnow the power of unions in our countryto restore our predominance in manufacturing. There are two key steps towardsstripping unions of their power and influence in order to reinstate ourmanufacturing base and thereby strengthen our economy (Note that addressing theunions must be done in concert with far reaching tax and regulatory reform –resolving our union problem with not be sufficient alone).  The first is immediate action to be taken bysensible persons holding unions positions; the second is longer-term and canonly be accomplished at the State and Federal levels.

The first step is for all concerned union representedemployees to become objectors.  When Igraduated from college I went to work for a company that was infected with anagency shop union.  Initially, I chose tobe a Beck Objector (see Communication Workers of America v. Beck for legalhistory), but still paid an “agency fee” which was nearly as much as the fullunion dues.  About a year later I learnedthat a significant portion of my agency fee was being used as campaigncontributions towards democratic candidates. Under Section 701(j) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1967,employees with bona fide religions objections cannot be coerced into supportingunions.  I wrote a letter to the unionshowing how every candidate supported by my fees was an abortion advocate.  I concluded by confirming that I viewabortion as an unethical and abhorrent per my religious convictions.  The union agreed (as required by law) toallow me to contribute to a non-religious charity of my choice instead of payingunion dues.

Although not all union represented employees are similarlyinclined to depose of unions, it is quite likely that many would be put off bytheir union’s prolific use of union dues to support the campaigns ofpoliticians and legislation that offends their religious sensibilities.  Therefore I encourage all union employees toinvestigate how their dues are spent – following the paper trail all the way tothe AFL-CIO if necessary.  With the veilof faux-legitimacy lifted, I’m willing to wager many more union employees wouldbecome religious objectors.  Doing sowould strip unions of the more than $400 Million they spend annually onpolitical influence that has effectually stripped our nation of its competitivenessand propelled us closer to socio-Marxism.

For more information about becoming a Religious Objector Iencourage you, or your union worker friends, to visit www.choosecharity.org and www.nrtw.org.

This step is critical and immediate.  However, it is not sufficient to curtail theinfluence, and therefore damage, of unions over our government.  Next week I will share step two – a longerterm solutions with greater reach and impact.

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