Right to Work to Capitol Hill: 'Keep Your Promises'

Right to Work to Capitol Hill: 'Keep Your Promises'

(Source: January 2011 NRTWC Newsletter) Former Speakers Newt Gingrich (R-Ga., left) and Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) both made campaign pledges to support roll-call votes on forced-dues repeal, but blocked action on such legislation when Congress was in session. Politicians Pledging to Back Right to Work Take Charge of House Thanks in significant part to the efforts of National Right to Work Committee members across the country, starting this month the U.S. House of Representatives will be led by a speaker and a majority leader who have pledged full support for Americans' Right to Work without being forced to join or pay dues to a union. Now Committee members' job is to make sure Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), and other members of Congress turn their pro-Right to Work promises into action. John Boehner, Eric Cantor Owe Leadership Posts to Worker-Freedom Advocates Mr. Boehner and Mr. Cantor enjoy their top leadership positions in the House in part due to pro-Right to Work Americans' support for congressional candidates nationwide who had pledged to oppose compulsory unionism. Millions of pro-Right to Work Americans mobilized against candidates who supported compulsory unionism, or tried to hide their position on freedom in the workplace. These Americans expect Mr. Boehner and Mr. Cantor to lay the foundation for a new federal labor policy respecting each employee's ability to decide for himself or herself whether or not to join or financially support a union, declared Committee President Mark Mix. "Poll after poll shows nearly four out of five Americans who regularly vote support the Right to Work," explained Mr. Mix. "When these citizens helped John Boehner and Eric Cantor become the new House leaders, they sent an unmistakable message to Capitol Hill -- roll back Organized Labor's compulsory-unionism privileges." In the 2010 elections, voters firmly rejected major Big Labor power grabs such as the "card check" forced-unionism bill, which sailed through the House as recently as 2007 and seemed close to becoming law in early 2009, after Barack Obama became the 44th U.S. President. Momentum Swings Toward Right to Work A full-fledged Committee effort to get federal candidates on the record against the "card check" bill, or "Employee Free Choice Act," as proponents cynically mislabeled it, surpassed expectations in mobilizing citizens and increasing the number of Right to Work supporters in Congress. To activate Right to Work supporters, the Committee distributed a record-smashing total of nearly 8.4 million federal candidate Survey 2010 "information packets" through the U.S. Postal Service last year. Above and beyond that, the 2010 program had a massive Internet component, including nearly half a million e-mails transmitted in October alone. All this plus radio, TV, and newspaper advertising. Lobbying by Committee members persuaded hundreds of House and Senate candidates to take a pro-Right to Work position, which in turn helped many get elected. That's not surprising, given the Right to Work principle's overwhelming public support. "The political momentum is now against compulsory unionism," commented Mr. Mix. "That means in this Congress the Committee actually has a chance, if members keep up the pressure, to pick up enough votes from the 'mushy middle' to push pro-Right to Work legislation through the House." Committee Pushes For Floor Votes

Sherman's Folly

Rep. Brad Sherman wants to outlaw Right to Work laws and the Investor's Business Daily takes note: Job Killer: A California congressman wants to eliminate right-to-work laws in 22 states where workers don't have to join unions. If even-higher unemployment is his goal, he has the right idea. Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat who represents a large part of Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, has introduced a bill that would repeal right-to-work statutes. These laws let workers employed at organized companies choose for themselves if they're going to join the union or pay union dues. In the 28 states without right-to-work laws, workers are forced to join the union if their employer has been organized. The depths to which lawmakers beholden to unions are willing to descend are almost bottomless, and labor is the second biggest contributor to Congressman Sherman's campaign in the current cycle. He wants to keep that 100% AFL-CIO rating and seems to have no compunction about wrecking jobs elsewhere (California is not a right-to-work state) to keep his union support. Sherman justifies the bill, H.R. 6384, on the free-rider argument. Right-to-work laws, he says, require unions to represent nondues-paying workers, and he wants those "exempt from paying" what he believes is "their fair share" to be forced into unions.

Sherman's Folly

Rep. Brad Sherman wants to outlaw Right to Work laws and the Investor's Business Daily takes note: Job Killer: A California congressman wants to eliminate right-to-work laws in 22 states where workers don't have to join unions. If even-higher unemployment is his goal, he has the right idea. Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat who represents a large part of Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, has introduced a bill that would repeal right-to-work statutes. These laws let workers employed at organized companies choose for themselves if they're going to join the union or pay union dues. In the 28 states without right-to-work laws, workers are forced to join the union if their employer has been organized. The depths to which lawmakers beholden to unions are willing to descend are almost bottomless, and labor is the second biggest contributor to Congressman Sherman's campaign in the current cycle. He wants to keep that 100% AFL-CIO rating and seems to have no compunction about wrecking jobs elsewhere (California is not a right-to-work state) to keep his union support. Sherman justifies the bill, H.R. 6384, on the free-rider argument. Right-to-work laws, he says, require unions to represent nondues-paying workers, and he wants those "exempt from paying" what he believes is "their fair share" to be forced into unions.
Forced Union Dues-Funded Incumbent Protection

Forced Union Dues-Funded Incumbent Protection

Will Big Labor Machine Rescue Unpopular Union-Label Politicians? (Source: September 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Over the past two years, Big Labor bosses have repeatedly succeeded in getting their favored federal politicians in competitive U.S. House districts and states to cast "politically difficult" votes. Top AFL-CIO union official Richard Trumka is going all out this fall to help U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) retain the power to keep pushing forward his forced-unionism agenda in 2011 and 2012. Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America Early in 2009, for example, union lobbyists twisted arms to secure majorities in both chambers of Congress for controversial "stimulus" legislation. Since it became law, the "stimulus" has bilked taxpayers of hundreds of billions of dollars to ensure that bloated, unionized government payrolls stay bloated, but furnished no detectable help for America's private sector. And, more even than President Obama or any other elected official, top union officials are responsible for Congress's narrow votes to reconstruct America's enormous health-care system in late 2009 and early 2010. As the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics reported March 22, 2010, "in the final push before the vote," many union bosses and union operatives "displayed their clout through threats to withhold endorsements from lawmakers who failed to back the bill. They also vowed to support primary challenges or third-party bids against incumbents who opposed" ObamaCare. Now polls indicate that voters across the country are poised to punish vulnerable U.S. representatives and senators for doing what Big Labor told them to do.
Union Dons Take Care of Themselves, Not Workers

Union Dons Take Care of Themselves, Not Workers

(Source: August 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Unlike Unionized Workers' Pension Funds, Union Bosses' Are Secure Mark Mix: Enactment of a National Right to Work law "would greatly strengthen union officials' incentive to do what's best for the employees they purport to represent, rather than feather their own nests." Credit: C-SPAN There's no denying the fact that federal labor law grants union officials extraordinary power over unionized employees. More candid apologists for union monopoly bargaining and forced union dues and fees have long acknowledged that fact. Authorizing union bosses to get workers who don't wish to join a union fired for refusing to fork over union dues or fees is coercion, blunt Big Labor apologists concede, but it is for the workers' "own good." In Practice, Forced Unionism Is Impossible to Defend Big Labor academic Allan Pulsipher once explicitly defended compulsory unionism as a "legitimate form of coercion in a free market economy"! Reasonable people may disagree about whether it is theoretically possible that a worker could benefit from being forced to allow an unwanted union to have "exclusive" power to negotiate

It's a Trend – Big Labor Government Monopoly is Big Trouble

The liberal media in the Northeast is dominated by The New York Times, The Boston Globe and the Washington Post.  In a period of two weeks, all three have published articles critical of big labor's power and influence over the political process.  The latest is a Washington Post editorial bemoaning the power and influence of the teacher's unions in Montgomery, Maryland.  Fact is the article could be written in most counties in the United States but it's progress, none the less.  If they really wanted reform, they would endorse a National Right to Work law. In Montgomery County, teachers union has a grip on politics Wednesday, July 7, 2010 IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY, candidates for public office who have received the teachers union's endorsement ahead of this fall's Democratic primaries must feel as if they've won the lottery. The union, with the help of highly unusual cash "contributions" from some of its anointed candidates, sends out glossy, targeted mailings on their behalf. It places advertisements and yard signs. And it distributes thousands of its "Apple Ballots," listing endorsed candidates, to voters at polling stations on Election Day. Now the teachers union, known as the Montgomery County Education Association, is going a step further: It's organizing a poll and inviting its favorite candidates to append their own questions. If the trend continues, union-backed office-seekers won't have to bother campaigning at all, or even leaving the house. The MCEA will take care of everything.

It's a Trend – Big Labor Government Monopoly is Big Trouble

The liberal media in the Northeast is dominated by The New York Times, The Boston Globe and the Washington Post.  In a period of two weeks, all three have published articles critical of big labor's power and influence over the political process.  The latest is a Washington Post editorial bemoaning the power and influence of the teacher's unions in Montgomery, Maryland.  Fact is the article could be written in most counties in the United States but it's progress, none the less.  If they really wanted reform, they would endorse a National Right to Work law. In Montgomery County, teachers union has a grip on politics Wednesday, July 7, 2010 IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY, candidates for public office who have received the teachers union's endorsement ahead of this fall's Democratic primaries must feel as if they've won the lottery. The union, with the help of highly unusual cash "contributions" from some of its anointed candidates, sends out glossy, targeted mailings on their behalf. It places advertisements and yard signs. And it distributes thousands of its "Apple Ballots," listing endorsed candidates, to voters at polling stations on Election Day. Now the teachers union, known as the Montgomery County Education Association, is going a step further: It's organizing a poll and inviting its favorite candidates to append their own questions. If the trend continues, union-backed office-seekers won't have to bother campaigning at all, or even leaving the house. The MCEA will take care of everything.

Right-to-Work Laws = Liberty, Prosperity, and Quality of Life

Right-to-Work Laws: Liberty, Prosperity, and Quality of Life By Professor Richard Vedder (Condensed from the original 10-page Article appearing in the Cato Journal, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Winter 2010). Produced by the  Cato Institute.   Richard Vedder is Edwin and Ruth Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Economics at Ohio University.) The most essential ingredient embodied in the liberty championed by the classical liberal writers of the Enlightenment and beyond is individual choice and right of expression—the right of persons to say what they think, decide for themselves what groups that want to join, what religion that want to profess, what person they want to marry, what goods they want to buy or sell, and what persons they want to represent them where necessity requires collective decision making. One important economic dimension of individual liberty is the right to sell one’s labor services without attenuation—that is, without limits on the terms of the agreement (e.g., wage rates and hours of work), or who will represent the worker in reaching those terms.  The eroding of employment liberty in the United States had begun before the 1930s … legislation in the early 1930s such as the Davis-Bacon Act and, to a lesser degree, the Norris-LaGuardia Act began to chip away at bargaining freedom, but it was the National Labor Relations Act of  1935 (Wagner Act) that dramatically revolutionized employment contracts, severely restricting the freedom of workers and employers to reach individual bargaining arrangements.