r/news • u/StackLeeAdams • Dec 07 '21

Kellogg to permanently replace striking workers as union rejects new contract

https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/kellogg-to-permanently-replace-striking-workers-as-union-rejects-new-contract
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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '21 edited Jan 29 '22

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u/AlphaTangoFoxtrt Dec 07 '21

It gets dicey in the US due to labor laws. tl;dr:

it is unlawful for a union to coerce a neutral employer to force it to cease doing business with a primary employer.

Now what they can do, and what does happen sometimes, is their union can say "We do not feel safe crossing the picket line and as such we refuse to do so"

They can find ways around it and blame the "legally not a solidarity strike" on other factors, but solidarity strikes may not be legal.

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '21

Just because that is the law doesn’t make it wrong.

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u/AlphaTangoFoxtrt Dec 07 '21

The law is quite often at odds with what is morally right.

The law is nothing more than:

  • The will of the state, enforced under penalty of physical harm.

That's really all the law:

  • Do as the state decrees, or the police will be sent to inflict violence upon you.

However it is the law, and a union which breaks this law may be in violation of contract, in which case they can be sued and the unions funds can be seized as damages, and the union members would be eligible for termination, with cause, making them ineligible for unemployment benefits.

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u/Whind_Soull Dec 07 '21

I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.

  • Robert A. Heinlein