Retribution not enough

[Tim May]

On Monday, October 22, 2001, at 06:03 AM, Sampo Syreeni wrote:
>
> Sure, unions are good and using coercion to stop them from coming into
> being is bad. But that only applies as long as unions are granted no 
> legal
> status apart from other voluntary organizations, and participating in a
> strike is taken as what it is, a refusal to work. Likely a breach of an
> enforceable contract, too. Any "workers' rights" beyond that are 
> something
> you'll have a *really hard time* justifying. Asymmetry does not help,
> either.
>

"Sure, unions are good" is not at all obvious to me. Why do you claim 
this?

Most labor unions are simply rent-seeking clubs designed to cement the 
status quo. Teacher's unions in the U.S. are a prime example: once the 
union got powerful enough, it fought for a tenure-type system which made 
it nearly impossible to remove those who taught poorly and to reward 
those who taught especially well.

I've never belonged to a labor union of any kind, and they are 
essentially absent from the chip and computer industries.

 From what I have seen, labor unions are a collectivist evil.


--Tim May
"The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any 
member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to 
others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient 
warrant." --John Stuart Mill