In recent days we have witnessed the settlement of a fierce industrial dispute within the German döner kebab industry—an agreement that, for the first time, imposes a collective wage contract upon producers of this ubiquitous food staple. After repeated strikes and protracted negotiation, wages have been set, and a framework is now in place for defining both compensation and working conditions. While the parties herald this as an historic victory for labor, I must voice my deepest concern over the principles at stake.

When labor and management are compelled into such collective arrangements—especially under the duress of repeated work stoppages—the spirit of voluntary contract is undermined. The greatness of the market order lies in its flexibility, its ability to adapt, and its respect for the spontaneous and dispersed knowledge of its participants. Each enterprise, each worker, each entrepreneur is closest to their circumstances. Yet now, by enshrining terms in a fixed contract negotiated under the shadow of union threat, this diversity of local knowledge is suppressed. Wages and conditions, evolving naturally through the peaceful interaction of demand and supply, are subordinated to blanket agreements, rigidifying an industry that thrives on adaptability.

Let us not overlook the broader ramifications. The mark of liberty is not merely the absence of force but the opportunity for individuals to arrange their affairs freely. Collective bargaining, celebrated as progress, too often becomes a mechanism for standardization—pushing aside those who might accept different terms, stifling innovation in labor arrangements, and introducing the seeds of conflict and resentment into what should be relationships of mutual gain.

Nor should we be blind to the danger that these industry-wide contracts, once instituted, usually become precedents for state intervention. What begins with a union negotiation often culminates in legislation—in an ever-expanding architecture of regulations that suffocates enterprise. Today it is döner skewers; tomorrow it is every sector, until society is bound in a web of controls, each more intricate than the last.

One sympathizes, of course, with the hardships of those who labor in cold rooms and under pressure. But let us recall that the real safeguard of the worker is the open labor market—the ability to choose, to move, to negotiate, and to benefit from competition among employers. True justice lies in fostering conditions where opportunities abound, not in erecting barriers that make exacting and inflexible demands upon both sides.

In the end, the cost will not fall only upon companies or “capital.” It will be scattered, unseen, among consumers—young and old, rich and poor—who will pay more, have less choice, and bear the invisible burden of an order that has turned its back upon the wisdom of the free market. Let us therefore beware: what appears as a victory today may, in the longer view, diminish the prospects of liberty, prosperity, and peace upon which our civilization rests.