George Leef has devoted much of his attention to unsavory union activity. Now he devotes his latest Forbes column to a U.S. Supreme Court case that highlights the dangers associated with union greed.
Union officials dragoon many workers into their dues-paying ranks (and keep them there) by using their clout in Congress and the statehouses. They look to political allies (overwhelmingly Democrats, but a few Republicans too) to make it easy for them to “organize” workers and compel them to pay dues on penalty of losing their jobs, while at the same time making it hard for workers who don’t want the union’s supposed services to escape.
In return for those favors, unions throw huge amounts of cash and in-kind campaign assistance to the politicians who play ball with them, and to defeat those who don’t support Big Labor’s political empire.
A recent case, Harris v. Quinn, spotlights how greedy union officials and friendly politicians act in cahoots to legally plunder hapless workers. …
… At issue in the case is whether a state can dragoon people into unions and compel them to pay dues for “services” they do not want. Adding constitutional spice to the dispute is the First Amendment problem. Because labor unions use a large percentage of the money they take in for political purposes that the dues-payer may vehemently oppose, isn’t the government infringing upon the freedom of speech if it effectively forces the individual to help pay for union speech and political action?
