Resolution passes 35-25 as Withe argues government unions have a built-in incentive to grow government.
New Haven, CT — Members of the Yale Political Union voted 35-25, to pass the resolution “Ban Public-Sector Unions” after Freedom Foundation CEO Aaron Withe argued the affirmative on Sept. 29.
Founded in 1934, the Yale Political Union is one of the country’s best-known student debate societies. After Withe’s opening speech, students questioned him and debated the resolution before the house voted.
Withe opened by quoting President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who wrote in 1937 that collective bargaining “cannot be transplanted into the public service.” The quote, Withe noted, came not from Ronald Reagan, Ron DeSantis or Scott Walker, but from FDR.
He then laid out the structural problem with government unions. “If you’re a government union today, you take dues from public employees,” Withe said. “The more government workers there are, the more you’re able to take union dues from, so they’re incentivized to grow government, which means higher taxes.”
Withe called for ending collective bargaining in government and letting public employees negotiate pay individually, as tens of millions of private-sector workers do, with top performers paid more. “I love to see teachers making six figures,” he said, arguing that seniority-based union pay scales hold back the best teachers while protecting the worst.
He cited a recent report from the center-left Progressive Policy Institute, which he said shows a correlation between strong teachers unions and failing student outcomes. He also pointed to Wisconsin’s Act 10, which required government unions to win a majority vote to stay certified.
Withe described the Freedom Foundation’s work since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 Janus v. AFSCME decision, including helping more than 300,000 public employees leave their unions. He also described the Foundation’s lawsuits on behalf of workers, including public employees who say their signatures were forged on union membership cards.
Students pressed Withe on whether teachers motivated by civic duty need collective bargaining to win fair pay, what individual bargaining with a government employer would look like, and whether union political spending differs from corporate lobbying or members of Congress trading stocks.
Withe answered that the difference is consent: Corporations and individuals spend on politics voluntarily, while government unions spend dues taken from public employees.
“It’s been one of the more lively discussions and civil discussions I’ve seen on this topic,” Withe said in his closing remarks. He added: “What I didn’t hear was that government unions are providing or improving any public services.”
Video of the full debate is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bJOEpzIRQ0
