commiekiller

Worker unions must be abolished. They cause nothing but anguish and distort the price the market puts on labour. They cause inflation and cripple some of the world's greatest corporations such as GM. If unions were prohibited then the free-market would function better and the standard of living would increase.
The only useful purpose of a union that should be retained is liability insurance e.g if you are a teacher and are accused of assault on a student the union will cover legal costs. Otherwise unions should be disbanded!

Odi profanum vulgus et arceo

Thiocfaidh ár lá

I've counted to infinity... twice!

The social contract. Like, seriously, WTF?

Sparta is my favourite moderator!!

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Feslin

There's nothing wrong with unions, it's the power they have that's off.

I'm honestly thinking about heading a study into the correlation between advocacy of socialism and poor reading comprehension skills.

America is no longer America. The principles present at our founding are ghosts now.

America is an idea, one that this country is failing to live up to.

daviszg1987

Unions that don't have the ability to collect dues, which is what initially gave the unions power, isn't a union. It's a group of whiny adults which is sad and pathetic.

Commiekiller is right. Unions hurt the industries and the workers of the industries they claim to help. The only exception would be in a single employer town, like mining towns in the '50s, where there are no other employers near enough to hire the people in the town. A union might be necessary to deter the employer from succumbing to the incentives of allowing safety standards to deteriorate, for example.

These situations are isolated and as the economy becomes more globalized this situation will probably occur less and less. So unions are just destructive to their industries and their workers.

[SIGPIC]

Feslin

It's actually a very good thing.

If an employer is TRULY treating his workers terribly, a union would be able to start an effective worker boycott.

If there's someone else willing to take the job they've got nothing to complain about; after all, what makes it too low of a job for person A but just right for person B?

Right, person B is a harder worker, and deserves the job.

I'm honestly thinking about heading a study into the correlation between advocacy of socialism and poor reading comprehension skills.

America is no longer America. The principles present at our founding are ghosts now.

America is an idea, one that this country is failing to live up to.

Nerdo

I'd rather have unions than see corporations have every opportunity to rape the American worker.

Dr.Knuckles

How can you possibly hate communism, AND not support unions. Unions were the number one tool for Eastern Europeans to fight against Soviet Communism.

Show me a state which bans collective bargaining and I'll show you either a Communist or Fascist state.

Feslin

Very true.

Again, Libertarians are entirely fine with the idea of unions, we just don't like the idea of unions who have guys with guns as a bargaining chip.

I'm honestly thinking about heading a study into the correlation between advocacy of socialism and poor reading comprehension skills.

America is no longer America. The principles present at our founding are ghosts now.

America is an idea, one that this country is failing to live up to.

Nerdo

I'm pretty sure libertarians aren't the only folks who aren't into heavily armed unions.

Feela

First this is a stupidly unlibertarian attitude.
Second big labour unions do not represent the interests of workers they are bureaucratic, centralised monstrosities more often the junior partners to big business.
Third how the hell can you call yourself a libertarian or a free marketeer and support corporations, they are bascally an extension of the state they only exist because of massive gov't interefence and violation of property rights.(lockean, geoist or mutualist.)

"Whoever lays a hand on me to govern me is a usurper and a tyrant. I declare him to be my enemy"
J.P. Proudhon

In the insistence that freedom and moral self-realisation are interdependent, and one cannot live without the other, lies the ultimate lesson of true anarchism.
George Woodcock-Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements.

"Our corporate state uses the coercive taxing power either to accumulate corporate capital or to lower corporate costs."
Murray.N.Rothbard

Feela

Those states were not communist, they didn't call themselves communist, they were certainly not Marxian communist which requires a stateless society and they are not generic communism because they didn't distribute according to need.

"Whoever lays a hand on me to govern me is a usurper and a tyrant. I declare him to be my enemy"
J.P. Proudhon

In the insistence that freedom and moral self-realisation are interdependent, and one cannot live without the other, lies the ultimate lesson of true anarchism.
George Woodcock-Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements.

"Our corporate state uses the coercive taxing power either to accumulate corporate capital or to lower corporate costs."
Murray.N.Rothbard