Right-To-Work States

I've seen it argued that Unions have not been very helpful to employees in modern times, in terms of pay. And, I have no doubt that Unions are a major job-killer.

As for the point that a non-union worker might get a free ride on wage negotiation, it's not true if Unions have been ineffective at raising wages in modern times. Even if it is true, so what? If the Union kills jobs (and they do), the guy not in the Union is most at risk of losing his job, so no free ride. He pays for that wage increase by giving up job security. Even if his job is secure, coercion is not justified just because someone might benefit from something they didn't contribute to. If I want to paint my house, would I be justified in forcing my neighbors to buy the paint? Painting my house will improve their quality of life (a prettier neighborhood) and it will raise the value of their property.

Auto unions recently benefited tremendously from taxpayers when the government bailed out GM and Chrysler. The Unions got a free ride from the taxpayer, so they're in no position to complain about anyone getting a free ride from them. Unionized industries enjoy a great deal of protectionism on the backs of consumers and taxpayers, such as tariffs on imported trucks.

 

When I wsa in college in the late 50s, I took a course in PUBLIC SPEAKING! One of the assignments was to pick a controversial subject and preparea 5 minute speech on the topic.
I chose LABOR UNIONS, and spent quite a bit of time on the research. As I wrote my rough draft for approval I got madder & madder and wrote more & more.
Finally turned it in & the prof quickly glanced at the magnitude and said , "My god Smith, this is supposed to be only 5 minutes!"
I could see the need at their inception, but they have become a liability and are simply self serving in their present capacity (just like most gov't agencies) for the most part. IMHO, of course!!