I'm starting to think it might not be a bad idea for libertarians to get into the union organizing business. I can hear the reactions now -- "What, are you nuts?" I know it sounds a bit strange. I'm not generally a big fan of unions myself; in U.S. politics, at least, I think they tend to do more harm than good. But hear me out.
Unions were once a very strong political force, and they may soon be more formidable again. Major unions, recognizing the slowly slipping percentage of the U.S. workforce that they represent, are making a renewed push to increase unionization and bring in new members. Also, if Obama is elected president, he has promised to sign a piece of legislation deceptively called the "Employee Free Choice Act" (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_Free_Choice_Act). The most important thing this act would apparently do is eliminate secret balloting for the elections required to create a union in a workplace, opening workers to more intimidation from union organizers.
Unions are to a large degree perceived by the public as an important voice of working class people. Having that voice deliver a less anti-freedom message or even potentially a pro-freedom message would be a major step forward. What if a libertarian group was formed that provided start-up assistance and organizing help to people wanting to unionize their workplaces, on the condition of adopting a union charter written along more libertarian lines than existing unions? To be successful, these unions might need to compromise some libertarian
Benefits that such unions could offer their members:
• lower dues than other unions
• group rates for types of health care benefits not offered by a company
• no members' money involuntarily going to outside political causes
• no "class warfare" agenda, just honest worker representation
• standing up for civil liberties of workers, especially undocumented ones
• pension investment plans set up to hopefully offer an eventual alternative to Social Security
Advantages to the freedom movement of having such unions be created:
• keep workers from being represented by left-wing groups taking their money and giving it to bad causes
• charter rules prohibiting unions from engaging in or supporting un-libertarian actions (e.g. closed shops, statist legislation, unreasonable burdens on employers, etc.)
• give libertarian organizers a chance to connect with groups of working-class people and start building a mass movement
• unions not serving as a conduit for anti-freedom political messages
• unionizing employees in government or sensitive industries (i.e. companies making identity chips) could give a libertarian-run organization access to inside information
The far left is seeking to step up its union organizing (see message below). Some of the agenda the writer below outlines is one we can agree with -- opposing imperialism, opposing "War on Terror" measures such as security background checks, defending immigrants' rights, opposing union support going to Democrats, supporting the restoration of citizenship rights to ex-felons, even including the workers' right to carry firearms(!). One of the reasons this is encouraging is because it means a libertarian union organizing drive could offer much of the same agenda. But without the negative, anti-freedom baggage of the neo-Marxists and their fellow travelers.
Unions have often historically played an important role in opposing tyranny (e.g. Solidarity in Poland) and even if they were designed to be apolitical under current circumstances, could be chartered to allow political action in certain extreme (i.e. impending tyranny) circumstances; having their chartering organization not run by statists could increase the likelihood that they would play a pro-freedom role when the appropriate time came.
If anyone reading this is hankering to start a new pro-freedom organization, a group with a mission of unionizing might fill an important niche. Please forward this message to other libertarian lists where it might be welcome.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))