You Think Professors Are Liberal?

Not so for the NYU Law Conference on Liberty and Fairness.

Today’s conference was organized by law professors and students who embrace libertarian ideas. They strongly oppose government regulation of markets, including labor markets. They don’t like unions at all. 
To them, unions are government-sanctioned monopolies that deprive individuals of freedom, bargain a “level” rate for all (unfair to individuals), and strangle government, especially state governments. Unions, in their view, are the single biggest reason states such as Illinois are essentially bankrupt.
All good points.

I was invited as a counter-voice. My libertarian colleagues believe union dues are compelled speech in violation of the First Amendment.

So I brought up the West Virginia teachers’ strike. These public employees do not have collective bargaining.

Is there a public good in paying teachers so poorly that they are on food stamps? 
Someone said the solution to that is to take away food stamps. 
Will that improve public education, I asked? 
Create more charter schools.

Alright, then: If public employees have a First Amendment right not to pay mandatory dues on grounds of free speech, what happens if we return to the days when unions were treated as criminal conspiracies. (They were.)

Does the First Amendment grant teachers and other public employees a right of free association to join an “illegal” organization called a labor union?

No one answered that question. No one.