Competitive Unions

All but a few diehard socialists now concede that free markets serve the needs and desires of consumers far better than governmentally sanctioned monopolies or cartels. Fortunately, Americans can usually shop for the goods and services they want in more or less free markets. For only a few things must we deal with a monopoly if we want to deal at all, and in those instances, consumer dissatisfaction is high. The Postal Service immediately comes to mind as an example.

his article is about another instance of consumers being deprived of the benefits of a market: representation in dealing with employers. In the United States, the law prevents the emergence of a market for representational services employees would be willing to pay for in matter relating to their employment. Either you represent yourself or you accept representation by a labor union which may or may not be to your liking. Workers cannot shop around and then contract with the organization they believe will give them the best value for their money. It is my contention that this situation ill serves workers and is a principal explanation for the decline of labor unions in America.

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Unfortunately, labor unions as they exist under U.S. labor statutes are profoundly non-market entities. They are not voluntary associations of individuals who have common interest and willingly contract with an outsider for the rendering of services they desire. Instead, they are involuntary associations of individuals who, on the basis of majority vote in which they probably did not even participate, are required indefinitely to accept the "Representation" of outsiders. It should not surprise anyone that many people shun that type of association, doubting that the benefits will be worth the costs.

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PeteEU said:

It is. It is done in many European countries. If I am a bricklayer in Denmark, I can be a member of the Bricklayer Union or any other union that wishes to represent me.. or no union at all of course. We have "Christian unions", "free unions" and so on. They compete on not only what they can do for you but also cost... in fact they compete quite a bit on cost of membership heh...

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