Friedrich August von Hayek, “Trade Union Privileges”

“Trade Union Privileges” is a short letter to the editor published in The Times on August 20, 1977, and republished in the supplied 2022 version. Hayek replies to Arthur Palmer’s interpretation of his earlier criticism of British trade unions. The accompanying editorial note explains that Palmer had framed the contrast between British and German unions as one of resistance or submission to state dictates, linking it to their countries’ histories of freedom.

Hayek’s central move is to distinguish obedience to generally applicable law from obedience to commands of the state. He invokes English traditions to argue that freedom depends on equal legal obligations, not on a particular organization’s ability to evade them:

The trouble is that British trade unions refuse to accept the law which applies to everybody else.

The charge concerns unequal legal standing. Within this brief letter, Hayek neither identifies particular privileges nor develops a detailed account of their economic effects. Instead, he treats unions’ refusal of common legal constraints as the chief cause of British economic decline and proposes comparative testimony to test that claim:

Since some people still seem to feel doubts that this is the chief cause of the British economic decline it might be helpful if, as an impartial test, the House of Commons invited the leaders of some of the great corporations which attempt to conduct similar enterprises in Britain and other European countries to give evidence on their experience in the respective countries.

The argument thus moves from a distinction about law and liberty to a proposed parliamentary inquiry. Hayek suggests Henry Ford II as a witness, contrasting increased German profits with reported difficulties in Britain. This is an illustrative comparison, not evidence establishing causation. The letter’s significance lies in its concise connection between equal application of law and economic performance, and in its attempt to turn a dispute about national traditions into a question answerable through cross-country business experience.