Firing decisions based on union status should be outlawed - NEW

An important point that has cropped up in this debate is whose rights are being infringed: employer's or employee's? In this situation, I will show why the rights of the employee must be considered before making a decision to fire them. My opponent says that everything that is fair and just must be decided based on employer's rights. This is not accurate. Employees devote their entire working day to working for the employer. Their livelihood depends on their ability to work. When evaluting a decision to fire, a fair decision is one which takes both the employer's as well as the employee's rights into consideration. Before the 1960s, courts viewed the relationship between employer and employee as being on equal footing in terms of bargaining power [2]. However, this began to change in the 1960s when employees began to form labor unions. Courts and legislatures began to recognize that employers frequently have structural and economic advantanges when negotiating with potential and current employees. It was recognized that employment was central to the person's well being. There is also the fear of being terminated unjustly. For this reason, there are exceptions to the at-will employment doctrine two of which are the implied contract exception and good faith exception. [2]My opponent does not argue against the fact that Unions are necessary for certain classes of employees. Since they have far less bargaining power than the employer, the employees may be required to join a Union in order to negotiate fair wages and working conditions.My opponent says that employees are hired to satisfy the employer in exchange for their salary. This isn't entirely true. Employees are hired by their employers to do a specific job, and as long as that job is being done, and all of the employer's rules are being followed, they should continue to be able to work with that employer. The employer has no right to control what the employee does outside of the workplace unless specifically stated in the employee's contract. To choose between leaving the Union or getting fired is unfair as it infringes on what the employee can do in his own time. It creates undue pressure for the employee due to the large difference in bargaining power which I have outlined above.My opponent says that anytime a business terminates employment not forbidden by a written contract, their cause is just. That isn't true. There are implied contracts that an employer must abide by in addition to any explicit contracts. Kmart Corporation v. Ponsock, the employee who worked for the company until almost retiring was terminated just before he could retire [2]. He had no employment contract and had at-will employment. However, the court held that termination was unjust because Kmart fired the employee just to aviod paying him a pension once he retired. Now my opponent would say that they have a right to fire the employee at any point since it was at-will employment, but that is not true. All employment including at-will employment must be held to certain rules and regulations to prevent firing in bad faith.It is obvious that if the employee signs a contract saying that he won't join a Union, then he shouldn't be allowed to. If he signs a contract saying that he should be allowed to join, then he should be allowed. I am considering the scenario of employees who did not sign any contract as far as their Union status goes and employers have no policies regarding joining Unions. Now the employer is free to fire the employee for no reason if that is truly the case. However, they cannot fire him just for joining a union. They should also be able to prove that they did not just fire him for joining a Union and then told the employee that he was fired without cause.To require employers to provide valid grounds of an employee's discharge does not unduly restrict employers, it merely provides a balance of power. There is no true freedom of contract between an employer and an employee. The individual employee in most cases has no power or ability at all to negotiate an employment contract more favorable to themselves. [2] To fire an employee just because he joins a union violates employee's rights which must be considred above the rights of the employer when bargaining power and structural and economic advantages of the employers are taken into consideration. Sources[1] http://jobs.stateuniversity.com...[2] http://www.bls.gov...