A lot of people wonder whether labor unions are inconsistent with a free market. Does a free market economy mean there can't be unions?
Rick Kelo is a labor specialist who works as the head of talent acquisition at
a tax recruiting firm in Chicago. When asked about his view of unions Rick noted, "I am not anti-union. I am opposed only to unions in so much as they rely on grants of monopoly privilege in order to extract economic rents. For example, in America today union dues are almost always a sign of monopoly power at work."
Nothing about the presence of labor unions is inconsistent with capitalism.
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| Rick Kelo - expert in tax talent acquisition |
In a totally free market employers are free to purchase labor from their employees in any arrangement they prefer. Labor is a competitive resource that must be bid away from competition (including every alternate possible use). So even in a totally free market some employers would prefer to rely on union membership to help them attract talent. Others will find it preferable to use a non-union method of organization.
Unions themselves aren't incompatible with a free society or a free market. The thing that is incompatible with a free society, and a free market, is dictating that only certain forms of employment are allowed or dictating that certain forms are not allowed.
Rick Kelo finds it equally as immoral to outlaw unions as to make them mandatory.
