Organized Labor

Issue

   Organized labor (unions) have allowed workers to engage in collective bargaining agreements to attain higher pay, better working conditions, and receive additional benefits. However, is allowing workers the ability to go on strike and "strong arm" their employers that good of a policy for the nation?

Solution

   Unions have contributed to the rising cost of products to the point that some goods have become unattainable and are no longer affordable for the average consumer. For example, the cost of an automobile has risen over the years due to the union's demands for higher wages and benefits. Auto companies had to consider alternatives such as moving jobs overseas or automating plants with robotics in order to lower costs and stay competitive with other companies.

   Another concern is that union workers who go on strike may negatively affect the rest of the nation. For example, transportation-related unions (e.g., railway, shipping, trucking) have enormous influence on products due to their supply chain. If any of these unions go on strike, it causes a cascading effect on other industries that won't benefit from the union's negotiations. This causes an unfair amount of influence that a particular union has on the rest of the nation.

   From a legal perspective, workers who go on strike with the intention to threaten companies or their businesses will fail is essentially extortion. Legislation should be considered that will allow the Justice Department to file criminal charges against striking workers to prevent this type of behavior that negatively affects the economy.

   Some may say that unions should be allowed to exist for the sake of workers' civil rights, however, workers who go on strike that negatively affect companies and their line of business is criminal in nature. In other words, workers have the right to find a job elsewhere if desired but not directly hinder the business itself (which is extortion).

   In a pure democracy that will no longer be influenced by corrupt officials, voters will decide if union workers who are the minority of the population should dictate the welfare of everyone else, or if unions should be banned.