Professor Williams brings his usual acute analysis to the question of public employee unions, explaining why they are such a bad idea here. Bad idea, that is, if you are a taxpayer. On the other hand, for politicians looking for powerful, militant allies who will help keep you in office as long as you succor them, they’re a splendid idea.

One phrase that recurs throughout the debate over public sector unions is “collective bargaining rights.” Sorry, but there is no such “right.” For any contract to be valid, it requires voluntary agreement in full, and that includes the matter of how the negotiations are conducted. If one party, whether an individual, a company, or a governmental unit says that it will negotiate with other individuals but not en masse or through an intermediary (an agent, such as a union), the other side has no right to compel it to bargain otherwise. Under the law of contracts, either party may say “no” to any aspect of a proposed deal, include how it will be negotiated. The fact that we so often hear about “collective bargaining rights” is a reflection of how far the coercion that organized labor champions has seeped into our thinking.