PACTS
WITH THE DEVIL
"ORGANIZED LABOR" IS NOBODY'S FRIEND
By: Elysian Hunter
"I will not support an effort to dismantle the union
tradition that has built the industrial base of this great state..." These
words were spoken by Governor Bob Taft of Ohio in an address to the Teamsters on
April 18. It seems our illustrious Governor either a.) has been smoking
something illegal, or b.) is shamelessly pandering to the Teamsters to garner more votes
in November. Either way, it appears he has a very short memory and a horrendously
distorted view of the facts regarding unionism and its effects on Ohio's economy- most of
which have been distinctly adverse to put it mildly. Anyone who lived in any of
Ohio's industrial cities in the 1970's and early 1980's knows why heavy industry abandoned
Ohio- union shops- and the absence of any check upon union graft and tyranny.
This is a primary reason why Ohio doesn't attract any new heavy industry, such as the
proposed Hyundai assembly plant that is to be built in Georgia. Most manufacturers
do not want to contend with the high cost, low productivity and adversarial climate of a
union shop and do not want the specter of possible union violence hanging over them. |
As much as I disdain to malign a fellow Republican,
Taft is barking up the wrong tree. I grew up in an industrial town that was
destroyed by union graft and violence so I have very little empathy for the union cause.
Arguably some of the industrial unions are ticked off at the enviro-nut wing
of the Democratic party, but it was a nut wing they helped create. The
unions were behind the formation of the EPA, OSHA and other environmental
"regulation" authorities. They are the ones responsible for the import of
American jobs to foreign markets, not the manufacturers who could not compete with foreign
competition using high-cost, low productivity union labor. It is interesting
that the greens have taken it too far- jeopardizing union jobs, that is, and now the
unions want protection from the monster they helped create. But their loyalties are
not our loyalties- while the unions will agree with Conservatives that there should be
drilling in ANWAR, that draconian modifications to CAFE standards should not be
instituted, that there should be more police on the streets, the unions are still not our
friends. Eventually they will return to the gimmie-loving, subsidy wielding
Democrats, especially when they discover that the free market does not favor the
inefficiency, graft and adversarial climate of union shops and enterprises.
Unionization tends to discourage profitable enterprise, not because of high wages alone,
but by the combination of high wages with low productivity. Economically it is not
feasible to pay for more than what one receives. High wages must be accompanied by
high productivity. Yet the trend in union shops is for productivity to decline as
wages rise- effectively "pricing themselves out of the market."
Perhaps there is a political strategy in appeasing the unions, a benefit in convincing at
least some portions of the union machine that we share some common ground, but does the
benefit outweigh the risks? We are talking about Teamsters- who can be very nasty
and destructive if their demands are not met, we are talking about organizations with
Mafia ties, we are talking about organizations who want to legislate and regulate every
aspect of the workplace. More importantly we are talking about Constitutional
rights- why would anyone who has read and understands the Constitution support the
practice of forced unionism? Even if the unions suddenly took up "noble
aims"- and truly represented their members, if a person is forced to join or pay
agency fees as a condition of membership, that forced membership is
unconstitutional. (My tirades on how forced unionism violates the First and Thirteenth
Amendments are numerous and verbose.) My cynical guess is that union bosses are
only making a surface attempt to appear more "mainstream" to protect themselves
from scrutiny and shield themselves from accusations of being owned by the far
Left. Union bosses have read the Constitution, and they know as well as any
libertarian or Conservative that forced unionism is unconstitutional, and that if Right to
Work were instituted they would lose their power. Why else would they be
trolling for promises of opposition to Right to Work? I am saddened that
Governor Taft would aid them in their farce.
Striking deals with unions may seem to be politically expedient, but history shows that
they are dangerous and nebulous allies. The more power they get, the more they
abuse it. Do we really want them to become more powerful? The 70's and 80's
are hardly the distant past, yet instead of working to eliminate the union stranglehold on
heavy industry and government, working to end gravy train in the millions they extort from
every American taxpayer, we see appeasement. We're sending steel subsidies to plants
in Cleveland that will never be profitable and will probably be shut down despite millions
of taxpayer dollars thrown at them, appeasing unions further in promising Teamsters
amnesty by opposing Right to Work, allowing the socialists of the NEA dumb down our
children while protecting inept teachers. Should we rewrite the Constitution to buy
the union bosses' votes? Should we continue to allow individuals to be forced to
join a union or pay into one against their wills?
Playing footsies with the Teamsters and other like minded organizations is negotiating
with the Devil. There will be evil to come of it and likely little if any short term
gain. I can only hope that some day these misguided attempts will cease: we need to
know who our friends are and more importantly who they are not. Appeasing the
unions may buy a few votes, but are they worth the cost?
Elysian Hunter is a
freelance political writer from Ohio and is a regular columnist for Ether Zone.
Check out her new website: Elysian Hunter's
Conservative Commentary
Elysian can be reached at elysianhunter@worldnet.att.net
Published in the May 1, 2002 issue of Ether Zone.
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