The largest longshoremen’s union in the West Coast has
decided to leave the AFL-CIO. While this may be an internecine organized
labor fight, it illustrates a major problem with U.S. labor law.
In an August 29
letter to AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, International Longshore and
Warehouse Union (ILWU) President Robert McEllrath outlined his reasons for
leaving the federation. Areas of contention included health care legislation,
immigration reform, and — most importantly — recent conflicts with other
AFL-CIO-affiliated unions.
In health care, McEllrath and his union
objected to the AFL-CIO’s uncritical support of the Affordable Care Act
(Obamacare) —which the ILWU leadership apparently believed did not go far
enough in increasing federal involvement in health care — and for “lobb[ying]
affiliates to support a bill that taxed our health care plans.”…….. et, it
McEllrath’s criticism of the role of the AFL-CIO and other unions during some
recent disputes with employers that highlights an egregious feature of U.S.
labor law that isn’t found in any other area of economic regulation: Unions’
privileged position to act in a cartel-like
fashion…….. Some might cite this as an argument for ending unions’antitrust
exemption, but that would simply pile one bad set of laws on top of another. A
better solution would be to repeal the NLRA provisions granting unions monopoly
bargaining authority over all workers in a given workplace, including those
who do not want union representation……To Read More…..
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