Labor Unions: Harmful to the Economy

The Labor Unions of 2003 look nothing like the original Labor Unions of 1886 created by Samuel Gompers. Once used to protect people's rights now is too powerful and is trampling those same rights that were once protected. Labor Unions, which did shorten the workweek and workday and improve working conditions through collective bargaining, shifted their strategy to politics. Thomas Jefferson once said that "to compel a man, to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical." (Wilson, Online) Labor Unions fit this description as forcing union dues to all those with a specific job and have become tyrants in the government. Labor Unions "have betrayed their heritage by becoming too involved in partisan politics" (Steelman, Online). For this drastic shift in policy, Labor Unions are hurting the economy and not doing what they were intended to do in the first place. Labor Union membership has declined recently because it has become too political and has a negative impact on the economy.…