Ilau disagreed with proposals for the elimination of the right to strike or the right of self-organization, such as those by Lewis. According to Ilau, “politically it is not conceivable to abolish these institutions in a free society. Therefore the only problem is to endeavor to prevent inflation risk due to the abuse of these rights by labor unions. This seems to me the central point. I do not believe that labor legislation can do much here” (Ilau 1958, 4). Ilau instead saw that the way forward was to domesticate trade-union leaders and thereby accustom labor unions to accept wage moderation, as well as to prevent recourse to strikes, as in the Swiss case since 1937.

Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, loc. 976