I’ve always been a bit suspicious of unions.  As a strong proponent of free association, they got off on the wrong foot with me when I learned that you have to pay union dues at many workplaces even if you don’t join.  I certainly understand the conditions that spawned unions in America, and there are times when collective bargaining would be helpful.  But I am troubled by the “us versus them” mentality that many unions bring to any dispute.  There also seems to me to be an odor of socialism wafting from many involved in union organizing (which is the kiss of death as far as I’m concerned).

My profession has been pretty resistant to unions so far, and I am not a member of any union nor is one available in my workplace, so I don’t normally give much thought to them.  Two recent incidents have brought them back to the foreground for me, though.

Our local news media pays a good deal of attention to the situation with American Airlines, which is owned by AMR Corporation (based in Fort Worth).  American is losing money at an alarming rate and needs to make serious changes to stay in business.  They are trying to negotiate deals with the unions of the flight attendants and the pilots, and the last news reports were indicating that American could be in bankruptcy by May if something doesn’t change.  Instead of working to save the airline, though, the flight attendants’ union is trying to convince people to support more government assistance for American.  That really bugs me because the rest of us have to live with the economic viability of the businesses in which we work.  The rest of us would have to accept pay cuts or be out of a job.  Instead, they want to steal my money to prop up a private company.

The other thing that caught my attention was the strike by musicians on Broadway.  They are striking over the issue of mandatory minimum hiring.  The union currently requires each musical to hire 28 musicians, whether they are needed or not.  Mandatory hiring practices make everything less efficient.  There is no such thing as a free job.  Ultimately, the costs of those do-nothing employees are passed on to the ticket holders, driving up prices across the board.  Personally, I would be ashamed if the only reason I had a job was because of a mandatory minimum in the contract.

Perhaps unions made sense in the past, but the majority of what I’ve seen with modern unions has convinced me that I want nothing to do with them.

Update: (03/11/2003) This morning I heard that the flight attendants union is going to work with American now that they have realized how serious the situation is.