Ask LJ: Why does the Tea Party support Walker?

[asterroc]

Apparently the Tea Party supports Governor Walker's union busting. I don't get this at all. I thought the Tea Party was a conservative libertarian group. Shouldn't they resent the government interfering with and attempting to regulate how workers interact with employers? Or is their fiscal conservatism trumping their libertarianism?

Comments

[sildra.livejournal.com]

They have the right to do collective bargaining. In some places and industries they have the right not let non-union members work in that industry--it becomes essentially a guild. (I ran up against this once during an internship. I really wanted to cut some metal and drill a couple holes, and the task didn't warrant asking a professional to do it for me. I'd had safety training on machines at school, so that wasn't an issue. But, I was told, machining is a closed shop profession, and I was not allowed to enter the machine shop.)

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

They have the right to do collective bargaining.

But corporations have the right to work together, and individuals have the right to work together in other contexts than just unions Price fixing may be illegal (I forget if it is), but multiple small organizations can bargain together for a better deal on say a large purchase of printer paper. Multiple home owners can form a home heating oil co-op. How is this different from multiple employees approaching the employer together about their wages and work conditions?