YAFers Discuss Forced Unionism

Reed Larson, executive vice president of the National Right to Work Committee, denounced compulsory union membership as "inconsistent with the whole philosophy of this country," before a turbulent meeting of the Young Americans for Freedom last night.

Larson reminded his audience that "England and the United States are the only two countries in the Western world that permit compulsory unionization." In the United States, most of the "progress against enforced membership" has been made by non-industrialized states in the South and West, he pointed out.

But an elderly gentlemen in the audience, whose pro-union leanings led him to loud and frequent disagreement with the speaker, declared that these states are all "backward--economically, politically, culturally, institutionally, and intellectually."

Unfavorable reactions to this opinion indicated strong representation from these "backward areas" among the other members of the audience (one YAF member wore cowboy boots). Larson suggested that less "backward" states, such as Delaware, were also making strides toward voluntary union membership.

The elderly gentlemen refuted him by remarking. "After all, Delaware was the last state in the union to abolish the whipping post."