[Phil153]

I'm Australian, from Noosa. Sorry for the confusion.

I'm not that well versed on US trade unions, but Australian trade unions are particularly bad. Forcing the majority of the population to join a union and pay them their hard earned money is unforgivable, especially when they harm productivity, social freedom and the reward of individual merit in the process. The proof that people don't want anything to do with unions lies in the fact that membership has dropped to just 16% since the Liberal government gave people back their basic human rights. Yet the very people populating the Labour Party right now (70%) were the leaders in forcing their will on the Australian population through blackmail and intimidation.

Do you believe in freedom of association or not?

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Certainly, it would be treacherous and downright stupid to condemn all instancs of illegal uses of force by workers against private power and government, certainly if we are to consider the full history of trade unionism.

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Of course not. I'm all for people voluntarily joining unions and striking if they so choose. You're missing the point. It's the tactics used on individual workers that are the problem, both directly against those choosing private bargaining and their own conditions and indirectly by forcing companies, industries and universities to expel or sack people who refuse to join a union. Forcing your communist ideology onto individuals who want nothing to do with unions (most of the Australian population) is unforgivable. These are the pigs who are now in power.