Right to Work ‘May as Well Be’ on the Ballot
Silver State’s 66-Year Ban on Compulsory Union Dues in Jeopardy
Union bosses are publicly boasting that their successful campaign to overturn Missouri’s 18-month-old Right to Work law this summer — a campaign that was lavishly funded by forced union dues extracted from employees nationwide — has added momentum to Right to Work destruction efforts in other states.
Shortly after helping engineer the defeat of Missouri’s Proposition A, and erasure from the books of the state’s never-implemented Right to Work statute, national AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka boasted:
“We’re just getting started. We’ll build on this tremendous achievement in the days and weeks to come.”
Since Nevada is the only one of the 27 Right to Work states in which avowed Big Labor partisans currently wield operational control over both legislative chambers, it is a prime target for the next Big Labor drive to eliminate Right to Work protections for independent-minded employees.
‘It’s Logical to Conclude That [Steve] Sisolak Supports Repealing’ Right to Work
And the fate of Nevada’s Right to Work Law may well be determined by whether the state’s next governor is willing to stand up to the union bosses, or eager to do their bidding.
As Las Vegas Review-Journal opinion writer Victor Joecks pointed out in his August 10 column, one of the two major-party candidates on the 2018 gubernatorial ballot strongly favors keeping unionism voluntary in Nevada.
Mr. Joecks quoted Parker Briden, a spokesman for GOP nominee Adam Laxalt: “Adam supports” Nevada’s Right to Work law “and would oppose efforts to undermine it.”
Unlike the Laxalt campaign, the gubernatorial campaign of Democrat nominee Steve Sisolak refused to communicate with Mr. Joecks regarding their candidate’s stance on Nevadans’ Right to Work.
But Mr. Joecks correctly observed in his column that, even without a “direct response,” there’s “ample evidence” Mr. Sisolak “would do the bidding of the union bosses”:
“Part of the AFL-CIO’s agenda is opposing right-to-work. The Nevada AFL-CIO endorsed [Mr.] Sisolak in April. It’s logical to conclude” that Mr. Sisolak “supports repealing right-to-work.”
National Right to Work Committee Vice President Matthew Leen commented:
“Steve Sisolak’s shiftiness on the Right to Work issue is all too typical for Big Labor-backed politicians in states where bans on forced union dues and fees as a condition of employment are already in effect.”
“Few politicians who have to campaign in a jurisdiction where the Right to Work is already protected, and people have seen how voluntary unionism operates in practice, are willing to stump for a reversion to compulsion.”
Prices Lower, Living Standards Higher in Right to Work States
“That’s because they know it won’t be popular,” Mr. Leen explained.
“Nevada citizens, just like other Americans, overwhelmingly believe no employee should be fired simply for refusal to bankroll a union he or she would never voluntarily join.
“Moreover, a mountain of evidence shows Right to Work laws are associated with a lower cost of living, higher living standards, and faster job and income growth.”
Mr. Leen pointed to U.S. Commerce Department data, when adjusted for regional cost-of-living differences with an index calculated by the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC), a state government agency.
In 2017, the average cost of living-adjusted disposable income per capita in western Right to Work states was $39,429, or more than $2200 higher than the average for western forced-unionism states.
Grass-Roots Efforts Defend Employees’ Right to Work In the Silver State
To ensure that as many freedom-loving Nevadans as possible are alerted to the fact that their Right to Work law is at risk and mobilized to defend it this fall, the Committee is making the Silver State an important part of its nationwide state Survey 2018 program.
Before Right to Work’s Survey 2018 is over, tens of thousands of Committee members and supporters in Nevada will have been notified about where their state executive and legislative candidates stand on compulsory unionism, and urged to contact them regarding this issue.
“The last step will be implemented soon after this Newsletter edition goes to press in early September,” said Mr. Leen.
“It is the mobilization of Right to Work supporters to keep increasing the pressure on their candidates until Election Day.
“Steve Sisolak and other union-label candidates will have a choice. They can choose to renounce Big Labor bosses’ support and pledge to support Right to Work in the future.
“Or they can ignore Right to Work supporters’ pleas, and face the potential political consequences.”
California’s Big Labor-concocted A.B.5, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019, made it almost impossible for workers and firms to bounce back after 2020’s COVID-19 lockdowns. Now Biden bureaucrats want to federalize A.B.5!
Mr. Fain undoubtedly knows full well that there is a complete disconnect between the UAW hierarchy and the UAW rank-and-file on the Biden presidency and whether workers will benefit from its extension for another four years.
On average, forced-unionism states are 23.2% more expensive to live in than Right to Work states. And decades of academic research show that compulsory unionism actually fosters a higher cost of living.