Professional Associations v. Unions

The news of the day is that the Michigan Legislature is considering a "Right to Work" law.

I applaud those who are standing against the corrupt centralized unions and who are standing up for the rights of workers to choose their associations.

Unfortunately, a right to work law on its own does not address the fact that most Americans are stuck in dead end jobs with little hope for a bright future.

While standing against forced unionization is a valuable short term measure, to restore the free market, conservatives must move beyond base reaction and start constructively creating alternatives to unions.

IMHO, the best alternative to a union is a professional organization.

Both professional organizations and unions are forms of association. The difference is the focus.

A union is built on the Marxian idea that workers must unite against the evil capitalist. The focus of the union is amassing power in a centralized group that then forces demands upon everyone.

The focus of a professional association is the lot of the individual professional. A professional organization provides resources, educational opportunities and guidance for the members of the profession.

While a union has an internal focus and is primarily concerned with amassing political, the professional association has an external focus. As such it ends up aligning better with the desires of the individual worker.

So, yes, on a political level, we need to stand up for right to work laws. However, to win the war of ideas, conservatives need to move from base reaction and do proactive things like creating professional associations.

Moving beyond the simple creation of professional associations, conservatives would be wise to actively encourage membership in professional associations.

I understand employers wanting to avoid unions. Unions seek to create a centralized power structure that bosses people around. One of the best ways to avoid unionization is to actively encourage workers to join professional associations that focus on helping individual workers and promoting professional standards. Standing against forced unionization is not enough. We need to create alternatives to this corrupt centralized power structures that are destroying the American work place.

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On an end note, I should mention that my goal for the Medical Savings and Loan is to create a professional association called the Health Care Advocate Association.