Free Markets: Aaron Solem discusses the ‘right to work’ at U of Minnesota

Aaron Solem discusses his efforts fighting for the freedom of workers against union controls.

Aaron Solem is a former president of CFACT at UMN, Twin Cities who has gone on to become a lawyer for the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. He spoke to the current CFACT students at UMN about the importance of free markets, and how CFACT can benefit your career going forward.

In addition to his work with the Foundation, Solem is also co-counselor on an upcoming supreme court case, Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. He discussed why every employee should have the right to work without being part of a union or being controlled by union rules. He also talked about past cases he has worked on and his upcoming case with the supreme court.

Solem at the beginning of his speech addressing CFACT students.

“Aaron was a great speaker to have since he was really knowledgeable about what most conservatives and libertarians think should be a clear cut issue but becomes quite complicated when politics is injected,” said CFACT club president Michael Ziebarth, a sophomore. “Aaron gave a great argument for capitalists in favor of right to work laws while staying away from whether unions are a net good or a net bad in general.  When you present yourself as anti union you lose a lot of people in the court of public opinion but if you simply advocate for the liberty of a worker to choose whether or not to join a union then you definitely have a winnable argument.”

The mission of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is to eliminate coercive union power and compulsory unionism abuses through strategic litigation, public information, and education programs. While unions can be good defenders of workers rights’ when used correctly, too often free markets become crony capitalism by unions bartering backroom deals with shady politicians, while those the union represents see little of the benefits.