Right to Work Sponsorship Surging in D.C.

Record-Breaking Support For Forced-Dues Repeal in 2023-24?

While many outlets of the so-called “mainstream” media are claiming that Big Labor is on a roll in late 2023, you would never know it from the rapidly rising number of Capitol Hill cosponsors for legislation that would abolish forced union dues and fees as a job condition.

As this Newsletter edition went to press at the end of October, less than halfway through the 118th Congress, 143 U.S. representatives and senators had already signed on as cosponsors of H.R.1200/S.532, the National Right to Work Act.

That’s already higher than the total of 136 House and Senate cosponsors garnered for the Right to Work bill during the entire 117th Congress.

And Right to Work activists still have plenty of time before this Congress concludes to break the all-time cosponsor record of 168.

Sen. Josh Hawley Thumbs His Nose at Missouri Right to Work Supporters

While most members of Congress who pledged to support Right to Work 100% during their most recent campaigns, and/or cosponsored national Right to Work legislation during the 117th Congress, are now cosponsors of H.R.1200 or S.532, there remain a few dozen holdouts.

National Right to Work Committee legislative staff are optimistic that, with the help of grassroots forced-unionism foes who are constituents of these holdouts, they can soon get most of them to keep their word by cosponsoring H.R.1200/S.532.

Unfortunately, a handful of politicians who promised to support Right to Work have since turned tail.

Surely the most egregious example is Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley (R). Despite pledging to cosponsor and seek roll-call votes on federal forced-dues repeal when he successfully ran for the Senate in 2018, Mr. Hawley now wants to perpetuate compulsory unionism.

In a recent radio interview, Mr. Hawley actually said he wouldn’t “impose Right to Work on anybody”!

Committee President Mark Mix commented: “The senator’s choice to refer to the freedom to withhold dues money from an unwanted union as an ‘imposition’ is curious. And it’s out of step with most Americans, of whom roughly four out of five believe that union dues should be voluntary.

“Mr. Hawley also ignores the fact that Right to Work would actually eliminate an imposition, namely, the forced dues that union bosses can impose on workers in non-Right to Work states.”

Compulsory Unionization Harms Many Workers

While Mr. Hawley tries to justify his new anti-Right to Work stance by sidestepping the fact that it is federal law, rather than state law, that corrals private-sector workers into unions, other Big Labor-allied politicians dare to claim even workers who don’t want unions “benefit” from them.

“The reality is that the harms inflicted on many workers by union monopoly bargaining are so grave they have gone to court again and again seeking relief,” said Mr. Mix.

“Relief has not been forthcoming, even though judges have acknowledged again and again that monopoly bargaining inevitably harms many employees.

“The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals put it succinctly in Considine v. Newspaper Agency Corp:

“‘[R]ank and file members of a labor union have conflicting interests . . . . [Each] bargaining decision may inure to the benefit of some members while potentially injuring others.’

“And in a non-Right to Work state, those made worse off by monopoly bargaining can still be forced to give money to the union bosses working against their interests.”

Big Labor-aligned politicians want to exacerbate the injustice Mr. Mix describes by passing legislation that would effectively eliminate state Right to Work laws now on the books in a majority of states.

Support For Voluntary Unionism Continues to Grow

But despite their cynical scheming, federal forced-dues repeal efforts continue to gain momentum.

“The Committee is on track for a record-breaking year of cosponsors,” said Mr. Mix. “We’ve already tied our all-time Senate record, and beaten our performance from the previous Congress.

And dozens of additional congressional offices have met with our staff and are reviewing our bill.

“More and more lawmakers are waking up to the reality that most Americans support voluntary unionism and believe that workers should decide for themselves whether the union that claims to represent them really deserves their hard-earned money.”

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

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