Labor leaders of the past publicly defended the right of workers not to join unions. Not so, their successors.
"Rather than embracing the traditions of liberty and individual freedom that propelled unions to the fore-front of our society, modern unions have shed these early roots in favor of compelled union membership and forced dues," declares Robert Hunter of the Michigan-based Mackinac Center. Hunter argues that "contemporary unionism has strayed from its original purpose of representing the interests of union members and their overall well-being. Instead," he asserts, "unions seem to be caught up in national political campaigns, social movements, and various ideological crusades funded directly by the dues coerced from rank-and-file members who may be personally opposed to these causes."
Whether they know it or not, union members do have recourse against this abuse. "One of the best kept secrets in modern-day labor relations," Hunter reveals, "is that union members working under a labor union contract have the right to protect their freedoms of speech and association by requesting and receiving a partial refund of union dues. The suppression of these rights," he contends, "is maintained by government inaction and what has been called a 'conspiracy of silence' involving employers, unions, and governmental agencies."
In testimony before a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives, Hunter described the Supreme Court's 1988 Beck desision as "a triumph of individual rights over the political weight of union leaders. Yet, while the establishment of these rights is well settled as a matter of American labor policy, they go largely unrealized," he lamented. "Workers simply do not know that these rights exist," he explained. "When workers are aware of these rights, they are forced to make the sometimes untenable choice of resigning from the union in order to exercise them." Hunter described the situation in Michigan, which has the nation's highest percentage of private-sector union membership. "Nearly one million Michigan workers are forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in annual labor union dues in order to keep their jobs," he observed. "Unions spend a portion of this dues money on worker representation within the workplace, but much is also spent in support of political, social, and ideological goals outside the workplace."
Hunter pointed out that most union contracts in his state have a union security clause. "Workers covered by a security clause must pay dues for the union's collective bargaining activities, but they are not required to financially support the union's political or ideological causes," he explained. "In fact, workers are actually entitled to a refund of their dues used for purposes not related to collective bargaining activities, contract administration, or grievance processing, according to the Beck decision. Beck rights go largely unrealized," Hunter reiterated, "because workers simply do not know these rights exist." Noting that even informed workers are often "persuaded" to relinquish their rights, Hunter concluded that legislation is needed to force labor leadership to "respect personal freedom, democratic governance, and voluntary cooperation with the people it claims to represent."
