The Libertarian Dream – Coal Miners Forced To Work For Free By Corporate Masters
on August 28, 2012 at 6:45 pm
Via Addictinginfo:
A spokesman for the Century Coal Mine denied that the miners were coerced to attend, saying it was voluntary, but they did not deny that they weren’t paid…
Is this sort of coercion legal? According to a recent ruling by the Federal Election Commission, yes. The commission has determined that a boss, whether corporate or union, has the right to force their employees to campaign and even contribute to political candidates, whether or not they plan on voting for them.
Except that dozens of workers anonymously tipped of the media that it was, indeed, mandatory. This is the Libertarian wet dream: absolute “freedom” for corporations to control their workers. You will campaign for the CEO’s chosen candidate or you will be fired. And you’ll do it for free! Keep in mind, this is the basis of the conservative objection to unions, that they use their members’ funds to politic for people some of the members might not like. BREAK THE UNIONS!
Now that the FEC has made it legal to coerce workers to use their own personal time and money to support a candidate, do you suppose the right will complain? HELL NO! This IS the “freedom” they’re always talking about. The freedom to be utterly beholden to your corporate master.
I can’t wait for this to reach the Supreme Court and listen to Fox News tell people how corporations have the right to dictate your personal life.
What part of Libertarian says people should work for free? We may not want to tell Bureaucracy how to do their business, but there is no way, we would ever tell someone they must work for free. Libertarians want those kinds of Corporations to go without labor (walk off the job). We support local, & fair labor, for fair wages.
Yes, but a right without a remedy for violation of it is worthless. Do Libertarians support the federal laws that protect worker organization and other forms of collective action, including barring discrimination for engaging in these activities? These miners reasonably believed that if they did not do as the employer said, they would be fired. In this economy, what other jobs are out there for them if they lose these? A single worker has no bargaining power against a corporation.