Right to Work on the March in Nation’s Capital

Economic Contrast Between Forced Unionism, Freedom Grows Starker

It was barely more than two years ago that Democrat Joseph Biden, probably the most unabashed advocate of compulsory unionism ever to become America’s chief executive, was inaugurated as the 46th U.S. president. 

Meanwhile, Democrat politicians who were, it seemed, just as committed as Mr. Biden to expanding union bosses’ monopoly power over employees across the country were holding the reins of the U.S. House and Senate. 

Big Labor was eagerly anticipating enactment of the so-called “PRO” Act, a package of new privileges for union officials including a provision that would effectively wipe out all 27 state Right to Work laws by making the extraction of forced fees from employees as a job condition legal nationwide.

Right to Work Supporters Now Have the Legislative Initiative on Capitol Hill

But today, union bosses’ “PRO” Act dreams are in abeyance. 

And even though Joe Biden still occupies the Oval Office and Big Labor puppet Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is still the Senate majority leader, the legislative initiative has switched to Right to Work supporters. 

National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix explained: 

“Months after Election Day, President Biden and his media enablers are still gloating about how, with enormous help from the forced union dues-fueled union political machine, Democrat politicians were able last year to keep control over the Senate and avoid losing vast numbers of seats in the House. 

“But the 10-seat House loss that anti-Right to Work Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s [D-Calif.] caucus did endure was sufficient to put the kibosh, at least for now, on union strategists’ schemes to get the ‘PRO’ Act to Joe Biden’s desk. 

“Committee members and supporters deserve much of the credit. 

“After being mobilized by National Right to Work’s Survey 2022 program, they contacted their candidates again and again — by mail and email, by phone, by text, and in person — to urge them to make campaign pledges of 100% support for Right to Work.

“And six of the candidates who heeded Committee members’ pleas went on to capture seats that had previously been held by union-label Democrats. 

“These victories made the difference in taking operational control over the House away from pro-forced unionism Democrat politicians this year.

“Now Right to Work supporters are in a position, unlike in recent years, to press the new speaker and other leaders of the majority party to allow hearings and floor votes on legislation that would revoke Big Labor’s forced-dues privileges nationwide.”

Since February 2020, Forced- Dues States’ Employment Down by 1.28 Million

Right to Work advocates’ case for bringing forced-dues repeal legislation forward is strengthened, added Mr. Mix, by the last three years of state-level employment data reported by the U.S. Labor Department’s household survey: 

“Of course, the 23 states that still lack Right to Work laws for employees have long lagged behind the 27 Right to Work states in attracting and retaining goodpaying jobs. 

“But the contrast between compulsory and voluntary unionism has gotten starker and starker since February 2020, the last month before politicians at the federal, state, and local levels pushed for lockdowns of businesses across the nation as part of an unprecedented effort to slow the spread of a pandemic.

“On the eve of the COVID-19 cataclysm, despite decades of comparatively slow economic growth in forced-dues states, there were still 1.75 million more Americans employed in those states than in Right to Work states. 

“But since then, employment in forced-unionism states has shrunk by 1.28 million, even as employment in Right to Work states has risen by 1.46 million. 

“By the end of last year, there were 79.76 million employed people in Right to Work states, nearly a million more than the number of employed people in forced unionism states.” 

Legislation Would Repeal Compulsory Union Dues Imposed by Federal Law 

Mr. Mix continued: 

“The sharp acceleration of the long-term march of businesses and good-paying jobs out of forced-unionism states and into Right to Work states since 2020 is, without a doubt, largely due to union boss-backed state politicians’ unaccountable slowness in lifting COVID-19-related economic restrictions.

“But it also highlights how forced unionism is, at its core, a dysfunctional system.” 

“Fortunately, a growing number of U.S. representatives and senators are going on the record in favor of abolishing this system and replacing it with nationwide voluntary-only union membership and financial support.”

In the 2023-24 Congress, noted Mr. Mix, nearly 190 lawmakers are potential supporters of the National Right to Work Act, legislation that is expected to be introduced in both the House and Senate around the time this Newsletter edition is mailed out in late February.

The Right to Work Act, whose lead sponsors are Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), would not add a single word to federal law.

Instead, it would simply repeal the current provisions that authorize compulsory union dues and fee payments as a job condition.

Right to Work Success So Evident Even Union Bosses Can’t Help Noticing It

Fortunately, ever since the National Labor Relations Act was amended by a reform-minded Congress in 1947, it has explicitly granted states permission to enact Right to Work laws.

Back in the 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s, only a small share of American privatesector employees were protected by state Right to Work laws, but today more than half are.

“Right to Work states’ economic success has become so evident that even top union bosses who virulently oppose Right to Work laws can’t help noticing how employees benefit,” said Mr. Mix. 

He pointed to a mid-January article published in Charleston, S.C.’s Post and Courier regarding Big Labor efforts to secure monopoly-bargaining control over autoworkers in South Carolina and other Right to Work states.

When interviewed by journalist David Wren for the article, United Autoworkers (UAW) union President Ray Curry couldn’t help but acknowledge that “opportunities for workers are growing” in economically vibrant Right to Work states like South Carolina.

Mr. Mix commented:

“When even a forced-dues hungry union boss like Ray Curry admits, effectively, that Right to Work states are the place to be for workers who are eager to improve their and their families’ living standards, how can any federal elected official who isn’t in Big Labor’s pocket refuse to cosponsor the National Right to Work Act?”

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This article was originally published in our monthly newsletter. Go here to access previous newsletter posts.

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