Why trade unions are, fundamentally, anti-modern associations

Daniil Gorbatenko
Nov 5 · 4 min read

One of the libertarian positions that are the least understood by non-libertarians is the disdain of trade unions. Are we not for the freedom of people to associate? This objection is fairly easy to shoot down if one understands what libertarians mean by freedom. By freedom libertarians mean the absence of use or credible threat of use, physical force or equivalent behavior. [1]

When an employer refuses to let her employees form a union under threat of dismissal, she does not restrict their freedom. In fact, she actually…

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