The maybe candidate clearly opposes the effort by Big Labor to dragoon more people into union ranks through “card check” procedures. Thompson discusses the issue of union power versus worker choice here.
He writes, “In America, we need the right to join a union. We also need the right not to join a union.” I wonder if Thompson sees the full implications of that statement. Does he mean that the decision to have a union represent you in your dealings with your employer should reside with the individual? The odious bit of special interest legislation that controls in this field, the National Labor Relations Act, collectivizes that decision, making it a matter of majority rule. It shouldn’t be. The whole of the NLRA ought to be repealed, but if we could just eliminate one part of it, the exclusive representation provision would be the one to excise.
Oh, but if unions didn’t have monopoly powers wouldn’t they be less effective for workers? If anything, the truth is the reverse. It’s exactly because they have monopoly powers that they are able to extract so much money and use if for political uses that many of the “represented” individuals don’t care about or even oppose. The NLRA ensures that there will be no competition among unions and makes it very difficult for workers to get out of one after it’s been officially certified by the government. A free market in labor representation services would be best for workers, just as they benefit from a free market in the other goods and services they desire — or don’t desire.
