2 ms·
>> part of the right to free association in the US? Not American but interestingly there is no freedom of association defined in the First Amendment but rather
by skeeter2020 5y ago
>> part of the right to free association in the US?
Not American but interestingly there is no freedom of association defined in the First Amendment but rather recognized by the courts as a fundamental right. Part of the challenge when it comes to unions is that it goes both ways, including the freedom to join AND the freedom to leave. This makes something like labour organization tougher to define without coming down to heavy on one side or the other. There are a bunch of aspects and this is only one; it's incredibly complex in any jurisdiction, but especially in one that prioritizes the individual.
- beerandt 5y agoNot quite. It's an implicit right (whether fundamental or not), and the courts recognized freedom of association as being implicitly necessary to fully exercise the rights explicitly recognized in the first amendment. It's not freedom to join vs freedom to leave, but whether a contractual agreement can limit this right; can a contractual agreement exclude a party from associating with other parties. Exclusive labor contracts are one example (presuming the company's agreement to exclusivity was truly voluntarily, which is debatable), but what about other contracts? Given that every purchase is a contractual agreement, could Sony put a clause in the sales agreement that says the buyer can never buy another brand of TV? What if it was only while you owned and used the Sony TV? What if your Sony TV discovers another brand TV on your home network and bricks itself until you get rid of other TV? The right to a secret vote is equally implicit in the constitution, but we wouldn't hold a contract that forfeits that right to be valid, just as a contract requiring someone to vote a certain way would be illegal.