Her description of certain union positions rings true to me because I recall that the Stamford Youth Foundation (Stamford, Connecticut) could not staff the variety and volume of after-school activities that it would have liked because union contracts required it to pay every teacher for the extra hours worked after the regular school day.  This deeply bothers me.

I am not against labor unions, and I believe they serve a useful purpose in being a check-and-balance on abusive management behavior.  However, the notion that volunteerism must be stamped out if there is a worker ready, willing, and able to do the same job for market-rate pay is wrong-headed.

One of the fundamental issues in all societies is the question of when and how much someone should be paid for performing a task.  If we believe that every activity that is currently the subject of volunteer work, or perhaps below minimum wage work (like the cutting of a neighbor’s lawn by a 12-year-old wielding a lawn mower) should be converted into unionized, market-rate wage-driven work, we will significantly reduce the number and variety of goods and services we can offer to one another.

The one story in Malkin’s op-ed piece that particularly troubled me was the reference to a complaint by union officials against volunteer firefighters who built sandbag barricades to protect the city from record flooding. Ultimately, the reason governments at all levels are in deep financial trouble is that they have wildly overpaid unionized workers for relatively low-skilled tasks, or for tasks for which there should not have been premium pay.  As I have said in previous blogs, I do not blame the unions for trying to get the pay and benefits they received, but I deeply blame the government officials who caved in to these demands.

As a society, we need volunteerism at all levels.  There has to be a zone of activities that we will do without expecting to be paid by the recipient of our services.  This zone should include character-building community projects by such organizations as the Boy Scouts or the Girl Scouts, emergency services by first responders and other volunteers in the event of a disaster, and charitable work.  If someone wants to donate services, as my daughter does when she performs at senior citizens homes, she should be able to do so.  Taken to a logical extreme, the position attributed to SEIU and other unions would suggest that a unionized musician charging the senior citizen home market rates should have the exclusive right to deliver performances to senior citizens.  This is an outrageous position, and I hope our government officials never allow it to become the prevailing view.

In the recording industry, the intermediary is the record label.  In movies, screenwriters have to approach producers through agents, and film producers have to reach the marketplace through sales agents or distributors.  TV producers have to go through agents to reach TV networks and other content buyers.  This is similar to what I experienced and saw in the broader business world: there are always gatekeepers between product and service producers and the end customer.

What is great about the Internet is how it has the potential to give those who want to reach a customer the ability to bypass intermediaries and create a better balance of power with those intermediaries.  I love the fact that Paranormal Activity, a movie produced for $15,000, which used predominantly low-cost direct marketing channels, including social media, has grossed over $100 million since its release. Too many intermediaries would be threatened if that became the norm on how to get a movie to the public.

Related to this, I was so happy when my younger son became a very capable online seller during his senior year of high school, and my daughter learned about to get harp performing engagements directly without needing a booking agent.

I believe strongly that we will see far more prosperity and a more equal distribution of income and wealth if individuals have the skills to sell their products, services, and labor directly to those who need them.  Intermediaries can serve a very valuable role, and many are essential to the people they serve.  However, just like any monopoly situation, when they have sole or primary access to the end customer, they can get complacent and not do the best possible for the seller.  That’s why I like the potential direct marketing opportunities the Internet provides.  It gives any seller, including me, the ability to say to an intermediary: “Either be as passionate and single-minded about what I am selling as I am, or get out of the way.”