All that concern over "The Right to Work"; what about "The Right to Buy"?
Republicans have fought to destroy Organized Labor for decades, with so called “Right to Work” laws as one of their primary battering rams. Republicans claim it is tyranny for a worker to be forced to pay Union Dues if he or she doesn’t want to. It doesn’t matter that Unions only become authorized bargaining agents of work places after state certified democratic elections. According to most Republicans no one should have to give money to a Union s/he doesn’t want to be in. And they shouldn’t have to find non Union jobs if they don’t like being in a Union either, according to those Republicans. The Unions must instead respect any workers right to work at a Union shop without paying Unions anything.
Republicans get really strident when it comes to funding Organized Labor’s political agenda. They insist workers shouldn’t have their mandatory Union dues diverted toward any political ends without their specific consent: No get out the vote efforts on behalf of a political party or lobbying on national economic policy, no PAC donations, nor contributions to candidates, or paying for any issue oriented ads. Union members should be able to reject having their dues support such activities, when they don’t agree with them. Such is the “Right to Work” position. Liberty, it is claimed, demands it. But what about a comparable “Right to Buy”? Most of us are workers, but just about all of us are consumers.
At least there are alternatives to working at a Union shop. Most jobs, even in non “Right to Work” States, are non Union. Or one could try to become management. If nothing else, all of us are all free to start our own business, or to become independent contractors, rather than sign up with Organized Labor. Not so with buying however. What percentage of Americans can claim to be 100% self sufficient in their daily needs, or anywhere remotely close to that mark?
Large corporations have their hand in producing, transporting, marketing and selling virtually everything that all of us need to live in 21st century America. We have no viable alternative to consuming their products. Under the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” ruling all of them are now free to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence America’s political agenda however they may choose. Too many pesky government safety inspectors snooping around their factories? They can finance candidates who promise to lay them off. They could even finance a movement to amend our constitution to replace the President with a Monarch if they wanted to, and in all likelihood legally evade public disclosure of their financial support for that cause.
Where does the money to promote the corporate political agenda come from? It comes from us, the consumers of their products and services. It silently gets built into the price of everything we pay for. Unlike Union dues it is a hidden assessment, one that is unavoidable. Unions are, through democratic elections, accountable to dues paying members for how they target their political expenditures. Corporations at best are thinly accountable to shareholders only, for their role in politics (which all becomes moot when corporations are privately held) – but not to the consumers who actually finance their political expenditures, who seldom even know about them. Even if the Oil companies, for example, were somehow forced to divulge all the secrets of their massive political expenditures, how many of us could realistically cut off our financing of them if we find their priorities objectionable, or contrary to our own self interests?
Union members can vote out leaders who fail to represent their interests with their dues. They can even vote to decertify a Union itself should that prove necessary. Consumers however are forced to keep footing the bill for businesses to promote a political agenda often blatantly opposed to actual consumer interests. So where are all of the freedom loving Republicans fighting hard to protect our “Right to Buy”?
