Premium
Unionism and the public sector
Author(s) -
Baird Charles W.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
managerial and decision economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.288
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1099-1468
pISSN - 0143-6570
DOI - 10.1002/mde.4090020204
Subject(s) - coercion (linguistics) , government (linguistics) , public sector , private sector , business , public ownership , labour economics , law and economics , public administration , economics , law , market economy , political science , philosophy , linguistics
It is incorrect and misleading to speak of unionization as a ‘human right’. The only human right is ‘self‐ownership’, i.e. to pursue goals with one's own abilities but with no force or fraud against others. Government cannot dispense rights, only privileges and protections to some at the expense of others. A minimal degree of coercion exercised by government is unavoidable. But labor unions are not governments. Government has granted significant privileges to unions in the private sector, but such are not appropriate for public sector unions.