Compulsory Unionism and the Free-Rider Doctrine

Section 9(a) of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 provides that a union, established by a majority vote of the employees in a bargaining unit, must accord all employees in the unit the benefits of union representation. Many students of the American union move- ment interpret this legal obligation as potentially threatening union security because ofthe free-rider phenomenon. Typically, they argue that since an employee receives union benefits regardless of his membership status, economic self-inter~stwill lead him to accept the benefits without incurring the pecuniary and non-pecuniary costs of joining and supporting the union. The employee becomes a free rider...