I just got an amazing offer to buy a union-made T-shirt for the low, low price of $10 (don’t tell the guys at discount retailers!). Unfortunately, I’m all stocked up on T shirts right now, and I can’t afford the cost of other union stuff. But it got me thinking about what unions and their allies stand for.

Consider the words former Sen. John Edwards, who supports the ignominiously misnamed “Employee Free Choice Act.” Says Edwards: “If a Republican can join the Republican Party by signing their name to a card, any worker in America ought to be able to join a union by doing exactly the same thing.” But signing up to join a group like a political party doesn’t obligate someone else to pick up your tab. EFCA would really allow 50% + 1 employees in a business unit to sign cards saying they want to join a union — but the union would end up representing everyone. Some people may not even know they’ve ordered this “service.”

Which leads me to think that maybe we should start buying goods, such as union-made products, on the basis of signed cards.  Sure, you won’t get to vote on whether or not I spend your money on a product you may not need … but that’s not important. This is to rebuild the middle class by pumping money into union coffers!

So you may very well receive a union-made shirt in the mail. You’ll owe the $10, and it may very well support some unsavory people with an agenda you don’t like. But that’s the principle of a bill that’s very close to coming back, so you either need to get active in fighting it or email over your T-shirt size.