Politics, Taxes and Unions: Should Unions Have the Power to Tax? - CNBC

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Politics, Taxes and Unions: Should Unions Have the Power to Tax? - CNBC

By Rightwingconspirator

Economy • March 2011 • Views: 631

For discussion… Love to hear from our strongly pro union readers on this

cnbc.com

Dunkelberg: Should Unions Have the Power to Tax?We have laws that prevent firms from exercising monopoly power and charging prices that are well above the real costs or value of production. But what if a group of workers conspires (usually with the help of government) to overcharge for their services at the expense of the larger public? The UAW successfully used market power to raise their compensation above levels that the “market” was paying. In simple terms, they “taxed” individual purchasers of cars, extracting as much as $1,500 per car just for healthcare in addition to their higher wages, making it possible for union members to live better, but, dollar for dollar, buyers of cars to have less.

Union Leverage

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6 comments

Dark_Falcon Mar 5, 2011 7:59:41am

I’m not a fan of the behavior of some private sector unions, but unlike public sector unions, those in the private sector really were needed to remove a serious crop of abuses. That is why the Clayton Anti-Trust Act specifically exempted unions from its provisions. That ‘tax’ is simply one we need to pay. I wish it were not so, but human nature being what it is, private sector unions really are necessary.

nines09 Mar 5, 2011 8:16:14am

Should Corporations Have The Power To Do This?

Dark_Falcon Mar 5, 2011 8:22:37am

re: #2 nines09

Should Corporations Have The Power To Do This?

In Columbia at the time, they needed to do things like that. Given the activities of the communist FARC insurgents, Coca-Cola needed to allay with the “AutoDefencia (UAC)” para-militaries, and that latter group saw the unions as enemy sympathizers. Once Columbia had an army capable of taking the fight to FARC, President Uribe negotiated the disbandment and disarmament of the UAC and such abuses could end. But some actions need to be seen in the context of guerrilla wars in which reds within a unions sought to disrupt American operations.

Romantic Heretic Mar 5, 2011 8:33:13am

Oh please! What a silly argument. Taxes are evil. Unions collect taxes. Therefore unions are evil.

A union is no more a monopoly than the American Medical Association or the Writers Guild. Both of which are set up to look after the interests of their members and collect dues so they can do so.

And to be clear I am neither pro nor anti union. I am, however, pro freedom of assembly. If we ban unions it will be the end of that freedom. Only those deemed “worthy” or “politically correct” will be allowed to assemble in groups, and that will mean we’re no longer a free nation.

And that I’m against.

Great White Snark Mar 5, 2011 9:14:35am

re: #4 Romantic Heretic

Perhaps you are unfamiliar with this-The SEIU crushes a smaller union in a bid to maintain it’s… monopoly.
Excerpt
It all started a few years ago when UHW expressed disagreement with the international union’s proposal to unilaterally remove 65,000 long-term health care workers from the local without the approval of these affected workers.

Opposition began to particularly fester because SEIU President Andy Stern sought to transfer these UHW members into a local headed by his close ally, Tyrone Freeman, who was widely known to be corrupt and ineffective at improving workers’ wages and benefits. Actually, Freeman is now under criminal investigation by federal authorities and has been removed from office.

Nonetheless, SEIU international officers ultimately pushed through their proposal by taking over the local and eliminating the opposition—the local UHW constitution was suspended and all elected officers removed.

Dark_Falcon Mar 5, 2011 9:32:04am

re: #5 Rightwingconspirator

Perhaps you are unfamiliar with this-The SEIU crushes a smaller union in a bid to maintain it’s… monopoly.
Excerpt
It all started a few years ago when UHW expressed disagreement with the international union’s proposal to unilaterally remove 65,000 long-term health care workers from the local without the approval of these affected workers.

Opposition began to particularly fester because SEIU President Andy Stern sought to transfer these UHW members into a local headed by his close ally, Tyrone Freeman, who was widely known to be corrupt and ineffective at improving workers’ wages and benefits. Actually, Freeman is now under criminal investigation by federal authorities and has been removed from office.

Nonetheless, SEIU international officers ultimately pushed through their proposal by taking over the local and eliminating the opposition—the local UHW constitution was suspended and all elected officers removed.

Unions are generally not run in egalitarian fashion at the top. They are often themselves very top-down organizations.

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