August 2019 National Right to Work Newsletter Summary

Download the August 2019 National Right to Work Newsletter PDF.

Big Labor State Politicians Pummel Taxpayers — Victims Include Vehicle Owners, Policyholders, Online Shoppers

According to the nonpartisan, Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation, residents of forced-unionism Illinois have been forking over roughly 31% of their aggregate personal income this year in federal, state and local taxes.

The Tax Foundation’s analysis shows that the total tax burden per Illinoisan is higher than in 43 other states, including all 27 of the Right to Work states.

But Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other union-label politicians in the Prairie State insist Illinois taxpayers’ burden isn’t heavy enough. …

‘Peak Earners’ Ditch Forced-Dues States — Choose to Live Where They Can Better Provide For Their Families

Thanks to the impact of the 27 current Right to Work laws, which protect roughly half of all American employees, the U.S. attracts many additional opportunity-creating business investments from around the world. …

‘You’re Losing More Than You’re Gaining’ — Former Union Militant Admits Recent Strike Has Hurt Teachers

As the 2018-2019 school year drew to a close late this spring, rank-and-file teachers in Oakland, Calif., who had heeded Big Labor’s strike siren song this winter finally learned how much their unauthorized absences from the classroom would cost them.

A number of teachers were reportedly shocked to learn their losses were greater than the gains they thought they had reaped.

According to a June 12 news account by journalist Lily Jamali for KQED, a San Francisco-based public radio station, one of the flabbergasted teachers was Raymond Pulliam. …

‘Secret Judges List’ For Joe or Kamala or Liz — Tidal Wave of Anti-Right to Work Judicial Activism After 2020?

Just a few years ago, a number of vociferous champions of forced unionism were openly contemplating the effective destruction of every state Right to Work law in the country by Big Labor judicial activists on a future U.S. Supreme Court.

For example, in April 2016, former American Federation of Teachers (AFT/AFL-CIO) Deputy Director of Organizing Shaun Richman publicly gloated, in writing, about the potential impact of International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) v. Wasden, a lawsuit that was then pending before a federal judge in Idaho:

“The result could be that all right-to-work laws are nullified — and sooner than you might imagine.” …

Tennessee Autoworkers’ Vote Enrages Union Dons — Big Labor Loudens Demands For New Privileges For Union Organizers

In June, Right to Work staff attorney Bill Messenger delivered congressional testimony against the so-called “PRO Act,” legislation that would greatly intensify federal labor law’s bias against individual employee rights. …

House Panel Okays Failing-Union-Pension Bailout — Union Dons Who Shortchanged Workers Would Be Let Off the Hook

When Ohio iron worker Walter Overstreet was working, no one told him his union retirement fund was in trouble. But in 2017, after he had retired, Mr. Overstreet and his wife endured a drastic cut in their benefits. …