4 September—On left-wing radio this morning, I heard a British labo(u)r activist assert that “it is a basic human right to form a union.” I had considered things like life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and freedom of opinion to be basic human rights. But forming a trade union?

Yep. At least as far as the United Nations is concerned. Because on 10 December 1948 its General Assembly, meeting in Paris (the Secretariat and General Assembly buildings in New York City wouldn’t be ready until late in 1952) adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; 48 of the 58 member nations at the time voted in favor, eight—the Soviet bloc and South Africa—abstained (predictably, rather than voting against), two—Honduras and Yemen—didn’t vote at all. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights had been drafted by a committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, widow of the late president, pictured below holding a published copy.

This is Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with editorial emphasis on the right to unionize:

1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

The whole non-binding document is well worth reading, if only to see how it’s been selectively adopted by many of the world’s nations—including the United States—and blatantly ignored, flouted, abused, and mocked by many of the world’s nations—including the United States . . .