“Yes. The constitution prevents the government from attacking your freedoms but it does not prevent your boss from attacking your freedoms. Your boss can tell you what reading material you are allowed to bring to work, what color clothes you should wear, who you are allowed to talk to and when, what religious symbols you are allowed or not allowed to have on your person.”

The actions taken by the employer in your example stem from the private property rights of that employer.

If I were an owner of a tavern, I would certainly reserve the right to prohibit the carrying of firearms by the patrons.

“That’s how democracy works. Personally, I loathe George W Bush, but I still have to pay my taxes to finance his useless war. That’s what I get for living in a modern society. If your workplace unionizes and you don’t want to be a member of that union, you’re going to have to find a new job. It sucks, but it’s pretty funny to see the same group that tells people who don’t like Bush that they should leave the US whine when they have to find a new job because they didn’t like the union election results.”

Where to begin?

It requires an extreme amount of arrogance for union officials and their supporters to posit that private associations such as a unions be compared to a government. Union officials should have no more power to compel financial support than any other private association. How about giving the chamber of commerce or the Catholic Church that authority?

When George Bush was elected, you were compelled to pay taxes to the federal government, not the private institution known as the Republican Party.

I, however, was required to fund a labor union which in turn gave material support to political candidates for whom I would never vote. It also used its resources to lobby for public policies that I opposed.

Furthermore, are you aware that the top legislative priority of the AFL-CIO, H.R. 800 will allow unions to unilaterally deny rank and file workers the right to a secret ballot election when deciding to choose a collective bargaining representative?
Stalin would be proud!

“I’m also still awaiting those positions where you’re to the left of the Republican platform. Three, please.”

When did I commit to having any positions to the left of the GOP platform?

Surrender in Vietnam

We lost in Vietnam under Richard Nixon. We lost because the Vietnamese were willing to die for their freedom from colonial occupation. Vietnam was an unjust war. It was a war we fought because we didn’t like the outcome of free elections. It wasn’t the first and it won;t be the last because we think “big and powerful” means “we can do whatever the hell we want to anyone.”

Does everyone loose their individual rights when they accept a job?

Yes. The constitution prevents the government from attacking your freedoms but it does not prevent your boss from attacking your freedoms. Your boss can tell you what reading material you are allowed to bring to work, what color clothes you should wear, who you are allowed to talk to and when, what religious symbols you are allowed or not allowed to have on your person.

What does an individual do who has been employed somewhere for a number of years and his co-workers later decide to unionize? You want force him/her to quit and find another job. That is unjust.

What does an individual do when they have been living somewhere for a number of years and their fellow citizens elect an asshole like George W. Bush as president? You want to force him/her to leave the country. That is unjust.

Democracy is unjust. Get over it.

Bismarck: Your suggestion is not legal due to the section 9-a status of the union as monopoly bargaining agent. Did you notice the part right after that where I explained why that was impossible in practice, because some of the union’s benefits aren’t even divisible that way? Or why allowing the employer to discriminate against union members is a bad idea?

Does everyone loose their individual rights when they accept a job?

Why is it a threat to invidividual rights when a union does it, but not even worth a mention when the company does it–even if the latter case threatens all workers, and the former case only union members, and even if there’s a democratic way to change the union leadership while there’s no such way to even advocate for such change in the company without losing your job? You appear to be holding unions to a standard that no actual situation lives up to, because you’re crabby that your coworkers voted against you.

I’m also still awaiting those positions where you’re to the left of the Republican platform. Three, please.

bekabot: and while he’s at it he nicknames himself after a German Chancellor, so there.”

Either the German chancellor who created universal health insurance in Germany to defuse the threat of s*******t revolution, or a herring. Your choice.

Surrender in Vietnam . . .”

Wow. I’d say Bismarck simply has to be a parody troll, but given the things I’ve seen . . .things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate . . . er, hang on, where was I . . . oh, yeah, given the things I’ve seen online these last years, and in RL as well, I have to wonder. if so, they’re a master of the genre. What talent! Quality infotainment.

“Undermining private property rights under the guise of concern for the environment”

If you’re not a lovely piece of performance art though, one comment on the above. Opinions can differ about the first part (undermining private property rights) - as to whether or what degree private property rights are actually being undermining, and if so, whether or not this is actually a bad & unreasonable thing. The second part, however (under the guide of concern for the environment), is simply wrong. There’s no “guise” involved (I dunno ’bout dolls. Perhaps if they’re biodegradable and eco-friendly). What’s being done is done out of genuine concern for the environment. One may differ on questions of necessity, effectiveness, etc. (and one would be wrong, but that’s one’s right) - but pretending that massive support for sane environmental regulation is really just cooked up by some anti-individualist cabal is up there with imagining that global warming is an elaborate hoax cooked up by elites and the UN, or that the Civil Rights Movement was a commie plot.

Which, granted, may be your position - I’m a bit afraid to ask . . .

Does everyone loose their individual rights when they accept a job?

Pretty much, yeah. Unless the job’s requirements are actually discriminatory (such as age, weight, or gender requirements), your employer can pretty much require you to do whatever they please. They can fire you for not wearing enough flair on your uniform. They can insist that you be able to lift 50 pounds to be in your position, and the courts will back them up.

Where is this communist paradise where employees can freely wear, do, and say whatever they want at work?

What does an individual do who has been employed somewhere for a number of years and his co-workers later decide to unionize? You want force him/her to quit and find another job. That is unjust.

If your company switched to a computer system that you couldn’t master despite training, they would be fully within their rights to fire you (again, unless they did not make accommodation for a disability covered under the ADA). Your employer can eliminate your position entirely and have security escort you out the door. Your company has a whole lot more power over you, your day, and your lifestyle than you seem to realize.

It’s so funny to me that you’re railing against unions and envisioning corporations as warm, fuzzy places that would serve ice cream and sunshine for lunch if only it weren’t for those damn unions.