Labor Day Statement: “Union Officials Are Mounting A Billion Dollar Campaign to Reelect President Barack Obama”

Forced-dues funded billion dollar machine enables union officials to wield immense political clout, even though voluntary union membership continues to steadily decline Washington, DC (August 31, 2012) – Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and National Right to Work Committee, released the following statement regarding this year’s Labor Day holiday. “This Labor Day, many workers will enjoy a well-deserved long weekend. But as we celebrate with friends and family, union officials are mounting a billion dollar campaign to reelect President Barack Obama and elect more pro-forced unionism allies in Congress. “Throughout the United States, tens of millions of American workers are already compelled to pay dues or fees to union officials as a condition of getting or keeping a job.  And millions more workers are required by law to accept a union’s so-called ‘representation,’ even if they would rather negotiate with their employer themselves on their own merits. “Recently, the National Institute For Labor Relations Research and Wall Street Journal independently reported that Big Labor spends about four times on politics and lobbying than what was previously thought.  This forced-dues funded billion dollar machine enables union officials to wield immense political clout, even though voluntary union membership continues to steadily decline.

Greer: Economic Boom in America’s Newest Right to Work State

Greer: Economic Boom in America’s Newest Right to Work State

From Stan Greer at the National Institute for Labor Relations Research: Indiana Performing Well in Job Growth Ball State University economist Michael Hicks: "Indiana just zoomed past the rest of the country in terms of job growth" during the first full month after its Right to Work law took effect. In the U.S.as a whole, the anemic private-sector employment growth of early 2012 got even more feeble last month, as the nation’s business payrolls barely increased by an estimated 0.1%, seasonally-adjusted. (See link) However, job seekers are faring far better in some regions of the country than in others. A notable example is America’s 23rd Right to Work state, Indiana. As the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics first reported (see link) and as WIBC news radio in Indianapolis discussed early today, one out of every eight private-sector jobs created in the nation in April was “created in Indiana.” This is remarkable, because the Hoosier State is home to just 2.2% of America’s private-sector employees. Michael Hicks, an economist at Ball State University in Muncie and a frequently quoted analyst of the Indiana economy, is impressed: “We’ve seen good job growth over the last several months in Indiana but it looks like the nation as a whole was slowing down a bit. But last month Indiana just zoomed past the rest of the country in terms of job growth.” Previously, Dr. Hicks had been publicly skeptical about whether Indiana’s new Right to Work statute, which was adopted in early February and took effect in mid-March, would have much impact on job creation. He still insists its “too early to tell,” but now admits “it’s pretty difficult to say” the state’s sudden burst of private-sector payroll job growth in April, even as private-sector job creation nationwide practically ground to a halt, is not related to Indiana’s new ban on compulsory union dues and fees.

Right to Work Revving up Survey 2012

Right to Work Revving up Survey 2012

Pro-Forced Unionism Federal Candidates Will Have Nowhere to Hide (source: National Right To Work Committee April 2012 Newsletter) Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) disregarded her pro-Right to Work constituents. Then voters showed her the door. Credit: Bill Clark-CQ Roll Call File Photo Federal and state disclosure reports filed by union officials and their agents show unambiguously that Big Labor controls the most massive political machine in America. In fact, just one type of report, the LM-2 forms that private-sector (and some public-sector) unions with annual revenues exceeding $250,000 are required to file with the federal government, shows that Big Labor pours over a billion dollars into politics and lobbying in every federal campaign cycle. For example, LM-2's for the years 2009 and 2010 show that unions filing such forms spent a total of $1.14 billion in forced dues-funded union treasury money on "political activities and lobbying" in the 2010 election cycle alone. A recent National Institute for Labor Relations Research analysis of data from LM-2's and other federal and state reports conservatively concluded that the union machine spent a total of $1.4 billion on federal and state politics and lobbying in 2009 and 2010. Candidate Survey Is 'One of the Committee's Most Effective Tools'

Confirmation from the Mainstream Media: Right to Work Means Jobs

Confirmation from the Mainstream Media: Right to Work Means Jobs

"The right-to-work states are creating a lot more jobs today than the heavily unionized states." "We rate this claim True." PolitiFact.com PolitiFact is a project of the St. Petersburg Times and claims it seeks to "find the truth" in politics. It has been accused of a liberal bent but did win a Pulitzer Prize in 2009. That's why it's significant that they have examined claims by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich that Right To Work states are creating more jobs than compulsory-unionism states:  As we knew, and PolitiFact confirms, 'more jobs are being created in Right To Work states' is a fact: Former Georgia congressman Newt Gingrich made a claim during last week’s CNN debate of Republican presidential candidates that was like red meat to conservatives who complain that government is trying to force employees to join unions. "The right-to-work states are creating a lot more jobs today than the heavily unionized states," said Gingrich, the former U.S. House Speaker who now lives in Virginia.