Chapter 4 -- Lunar Labor Relations

Abstract

This chapter defends the claim that at least some essential service strikes will be morally permissible in lunar societies. I argue by analogy with essential service strikes in medicine. The duty to provide medical care is not borne exclusively by nurses and physicians but rather is borne by a wider healthcare community, which includes hospital administrators, insurance companies, etc. If it is permissible for hospital administrators and insurance companies to compete for their interests by making decisions which might negatively affect patient care, then nurses and physicians should have at least a limited right to bargain for their interests (and the interests of their patients), which should include, in extreme circumstances, a right to withhold their labor. Similarly, lunar essential service workers, such as low-level employees in the air production industry, ought to retain the right to strike. The duty to provide breathable air is borne by a large "air production" community that includes air production staff, administrators, and corporations, as well as regulators and the voting public. If other members of this community were to make decisions which resulted in especially egregious working conditions for air production staff, then these employees would have the right to strike to improve their working conditions.