the biggest myth about labor unions is
that unions are for the workers
unions are for unions justice
corporations are for corporations and
politicians are for politicians
nothing shows the utter cynicism of the
unions and the politicians who do their
bidding like the so-called employee free
choice act that the obama administration
tried to push through congress
workers pre-choice as to whether or not
to join a union is precisely what that
legislation would destroy
workers already have a free choice in
secret ballot elections conducted under
existing laws
as more and more workers in the private
sector have voted to reject having a
union represent them the union's answer
has been to take away secret ballot
elections
under the employee free choice act
unions would not have to win in secret
ballot elections in order to represent
the workers
instead union representatives could
simply collect signatures from the
workers until they had a majority
why do we have secret ballots in the
first place whether in elections for
unions or elections for government
officials
to prevent intimidation and allow people
to vote how they want to without fear of
retaliation
this is a crucial right that unions want
to take away from workers
the actions of union mobs in wisconsin
ohio and elsewhere give us a free home
demonstration of how little they respect
the rights of those who disagree with
them and how much they rely on
harassment and threats to get what they
want
it takes world-class hutzpah to call
circumventing secret ballots the
employee free choice act
to unions workers are just the raw
material used to create union power just
as iron ore is the raw material used by
u.s steel and bauxite is the raw
material used by the aluminum company of
america
the most fundamental fact about labor
unions is that they do not create any
wealth
they are one of a growing number of
institutions which specialize in
siphoning off wealth created by others
whether those others are businesses or
the taxpayers
there are limits to how long unions can
siphon off money from businesses without
facing serious economic repercussions
the most famous labor union leader the
legendary john l lewis
head of the united mine workers from
1920 to 1960 secured rising wages and
job benefits for the coal miners far
beyond what they could have gotten out
of a free market based on supply and
demand
but there is no free lunch
an economist at the university of
chicago called john l lewis the world's
greatest oil salesman
his strikes that interrupted the supply
of coal as well as the resulting wage
increases that raised its price caused
many individuals and businesses to
switch from using coal to using oil
leading to reduced employment of coal
miners
the higher wage rates also led coal
companies to replace many miners with
machines
the net result was a huge decline in
employment in the coal mining industry
leaving many mining towns virtually
ghost towns by the 1960s
there is no free lunch
similar things happened in the unionized
steel industry and in the unionized
automobile industry at one time us steel
was the largest steel producer in the
world and general motors the largest
automobile manufacturer
no more
their unions were riding high in their
heyday but they too discovered that
there is no free lunch as their members
lost jobs by the hundreds of thousands
workers have also learned that there is
no free lunch which is why they have
over the years increasingly voted
against being represented by unions in
secret ballot elections
one set of workers however remained
largely immune to such repercussions
these are government workers represented
by public sector unions
while oil could replace coal while u.s
steel dropped from number one in the
world to number 10 and toyota could
replace general motors as the world's
leading producer of cars
government is a monopoly
nobody is likely to replace the federal
or state bureaucracies no matter how
much money the unions drain from the
taxpayers
that is why government unions continue
to thrive while private sector unions
decline
taxpayers provide their free lunch
[Music]