‘The Very First Thing Any New Union Wants Is Exclusivity’

Cartoon Forced DuesLast week, Mike Antonucci of the Education Intelligence Agency chewed up and spat out Big Labor’s “free rider” excuse for compulsory union dues and fees:

There is a lot of misleading rhetoric about agency fees, illustrated by Michigan Education Association president Steve Cook, who said last week, “No one is forced to join a union – that’s already illegal. This allows workers to get out of paying their fair share of what it costs to negotiate the contract they benefit from. Whether proponents call this ‘right-to-work’ or ‘freedom-to-work’, it’s really just ‘Freedom to Freeload.’”

Leaving aside the question of those who may not benefit from a contract they are forced to pay for – math and science teachers, low-seniority teachers, high-performing teachers, teachers who might want a different insurance provider – unions are required by law to represent everyone in a bargaining unit, regardless of membership status, because they insist on it. The very first thing any new union wants is exclusivity. No other unions are allowed to negotiate on behalf of people in the bargaining unit. Unit members cannot hire their own agent, nor can they represent themselves. Making people pay for services they neither asked for nor want is a “privilege” we reserve for government, not for private organizations. Unions are freeloading on those additional dues.

Who Are the Freeloaders?