Collective Bargaining is not a Right

"Let me explain something to ya, sonny boy. Nothin' moves off these docks without it don't get loaded by the union. I don't see no union people around here. Do you?"
--Tony Two Toes (Eraser)

Perhaps the biggest issue on the ballot in Ohio today is Issue 2. Issue 2 is a referendum on Ohio Senate Bill 5, a bill signed into law earlier this year. Similar to a law passed in Wisconsin last year, SB5 is mired in controversy because it seeks to cuts costs related to workers on the state payroll.

Naturally, people linked to public worker special interest groups do not like SB5. Deep union pockets have spent millions on propaganda ahead of the election. Similar to protests over the Wisconsin law, a primary argument against SB5 is that it takes away worker 'rights' to collective bargaining.

But no person or group possesses a de facto right to bargain collectively. In fact, no person or group possesses a right to bargain at all. Bargaining is a negotiation between entities. This negotiation is voluntary. If one side of the table chooses not to bargain with the other side, then there is nothing that the other side can do to force negotiation.

But that is precisely what public worker unions would like to do. They want to keep the law bent in their favor to force the union's position to the table. They would like to write the law so that the other side of the table, the taxpayer, has no choice but to bargain with the union.

Indeed, the 'right' that is being violated under the arrangement that the unions favor is called freedom of association. Freedom of association means that you or I have the freedom to decide what friends I keep, what groups I belong to, and who I choose to do business with.

Freedom of association is a right that is borne from our humanity. It is not granted to us by government. It is protected by the Fourth Amendment, which secures individuals against unlawful seizure.

Once again, the Left has twisted around the issue. What they claim is a 'right to bargain' issue for public sector workers is really a 'right to associate' issue for the taxpayer. Any law that mandates a 'closed shop' strips taxpayers of their freedom to negotiate with any party they choose, and to choose to walk away if desired.