If you don't want to use that union, we should like to borrow it for a while

Workers are like a family and are always looking out for each other. I've written positively about labor unions for years, and have fought against so-called "right-to-work" laws.

But the pandemic brings out the worst in bad unions, and quite frankly, some of these unions should be kicked out of the labor movement. Many folks have urged the AFL-CIO to oust police unions that defend racist violence and death squads. It's also been noted that some labor leaders marched in support of the disastrous Vietnam War - defying their own membership, many of whom were as antiwar as anyone else.

Some leaders of some other unions are not allies of workers. They're bullies. At a time when workers need a voice, these unions have instead stood with corporate masters and weaponized the ongoing crisis. This would have been a perfect time to demand higher wages or repeal of "right-to-work" laws, but instead they've doubled down on the house arrest regime that's been cheered by Big Business and has ruined small business.

How do stay-at-home orders save jobs? They don't. Even if a workplace doesn't close, potential customers have been forbidden or discouraged from visiting it unless it's for goods or services deemed essential. Instead of fighting for better wages and encouraging workplaces to provide better conditions, some unions have instead blockaded livelihoods. This is at odds with what unions are intended to do. The AFL-CIO's constitution even says unions may be expelled if they advance "authoritarianism, totalitarianism, terrorism and other forces that suppress individual liberties and freedom of association."

How did things get to be this way? You might think unions would not be part of America's failed political class, but are all of them much different from other organizations? We know how corruptible businesses, governments, schools, and even some religious bodies are. Human nature is what it is, so I guess we shouldn't expect every organization to be perfect. But since when do unions try to prevent workers from doing their jobs and getting paid?

These rogue unions should have to forfeit their monopoly bargaining power. After all, they don't even use this power. In workplaces organized under these unions, workers should be able to form a new union. Although unions are stronger in numbers, it only takes one person to officially declare themselves a union.

There's evil out there. I'm not a philosopher, so I can't really explain why. Malicious people get into positions of power in our once-great institutions. Bad unions are merged at the trough with bad corporations and bad governments. Good unions - sadly - are often on their own.