Striking Philosophy!

Striking Philosophy?

I was fascinated by the editorial written by Robert Hunter entitled “An open letter to striking UPS workers”. Thank you to Mr. Hunter, a well spoken and informative person, for helping me understand issues concerning both sides as to their rights. This article gave insight into the process of class-action striking and Union tactics. The article challenged me to examine the roots of “Union thinking”.

All opinions come from a philosophical base. Everything a person (or group of persons) believes and/or acts upon is based firmly on a philosophy. Let us take a moment to drop the fringe issues of this (or any) strike (i.e. pay, full-time vs. part-time, pensions, etc.) and focus on the principle of legalized striking.

What right does a person have to tell another how to spend their money? Where in our Constitution are we given rights for corporate and class-action theft (striking)? Additionally, where are we given the right to tell our employers how they should conduct their business? Don’t get me wrong, I believe that individuals have every right as free individuals to form Unions. Heck, they can form whatever group they want to, BUT DON’T TELL THE JOB CREATORS THAT THEY MAY NOT RUN THEIR BUSINESSES HOW THEY SEE FIT!

The entrepreneurs and risk takers should have every right to hire, fire, and establish procedures on their terms. Yes, I said FIRE! UPS management should be able to permanently fire every last striker. Why? Because it is their business. Their money. Their risk.

“But it’s not fair!” Fair? Since when did the privilege of gainful employment and its components become an issue of fairness. Folks—life is not fair. For goodness sake—gainful employment is a privilege, not a right. Do we need to debate that issue? Maybe for some of you I am making a broad leap to conclude that employment is a privilege. If I have presumed the contrary and you do in fact believe that employment is your right, then may I remind you of the work practices and conditions of past Communist Russia. It that is what you want, then go find a country sympathetic to those views.

The premise of striking or “the tail wagging the dog” stinks of micro-socialism. When did we in this country begin adopting the flawed precept that we may tell those who employ us how to conduct their business?? What kind of rebellious and selfish spirit has perpetuated the Union crowd’s view of employer and employee. I have never heard of an incident where an employer put a gun to the head of a worker and said “WORK – OR ELSE!” A free market economy allows us to find new employment wherever we wish (provided we are accepted into that employment). If UPS is so terrible in their policies – inform the us (the public) of the policies and let us vote with our pocketbooks. And if you, the UPS employee, don’t like the work policies set up by UPS – quit, find other work, and stop whining!

My only alarm of Hunter’s words came in his opinion in the last paragraph of the article where he states to the strikers “You are an American success story. Let that tradition continue and not be lost in this strike.” Success story?! There are NO winners here, Mr. Hunter. This strike is another example of a great American tragedy involving corporate mutiny, union enslavement, and a flawed philosophical base.