I agree to an extent, however this is where is comes back to arrogance vs humility. A union believing itself to be the only indispensable guardian of worker fro

I agree to an extent, however this is where is comes back to arrogance vs humility. A union believing itself to be the only indispensable guardian of worker from abuse to the extent that they feel comfortable running a closed shop (these things are not historically rare) means you end up with two bosses. You're no less a slave to a system. In any case, the democracy argument is tricky. Democracy might have voting, but it is not voting. Even calling this free riding rubs me the wrong way. It implies they are claiming ownership over something that I don't think they own. Planting you flag, demanding compliance, excluding... Whether or not you vote I don't like it, I don't think it's power to the working person. I might hold my nose and pay the fees, I might also laugh at my boss's jokes or agree that unpaid overtime. None of those things are empowering though.