Big Labor Propagandists Refute Themselves

Big Labor Propagandists Refute Themselves

Union-Label Academics Inadvertently Scrub Excuse For Forced Dues Union bosses like AFL-CIO czar Richard Trumka and Service Employees International Union czarina Mary Kay Henry have long cited a bogus rationale for forced union dues. Now even Big Labor admits it's phony. (Source: July 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Under both federal and state law, union officials have always had the option to negotiate "members-only" contracts with employers that do not affect the terms of employment of workers who do not wish to join or pay dues to a union. But from the early 1960's until recently, Big Labor rarely if ever tried to exercise its members-only option. Current Law Authorizes Monopolistic Unionism Instead, union organizers have focused their efforts on imposing monopoly bargaining on all the employees in a so-called "bargaining unit." (The National Labor Relations Board, or NLRB, vaguely defines a "bargaining unit" as "a group of two or more employees who share a 'community of interest' and may reasonably be grouped together for collective bargaining purposes.") Monopoly bargaining in the private sector is authorized and promoted by both the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the Railway Labor Act (RLA), and in the public sector by numerous state laws. Under monopoly bargaining, employees lose the individual right to bargain for themselves

Obama Bureaucrats Promote Monopolistic Unionism

President Obama's overarching labor policy seems to be, "The more union monopoly bargaining, the better." Credit: L.A. Times (Source: June 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) Right to Work Fights For Independent Transportation Employees Over the past three-quarters of a century, federal labor policy has done enormous damage to employees and businesses by authorizing and promoting monopolistic unionism. Federally-imposed "exclusive" union bargaining undermines efficiency and productivity by forcing employers to reward equally their most productive and least productive employees. The damage is compounded when the employees already hurt by being forced to accept a union bargaining agent opposed to their interests are forced as well to pay dues or fees to the unwanted union. Fortunately, Right to Work laws in 22 states, where nearly 40% of the private-sector work force is employed, prohibit the collection of forced dues from the vast majority of employees. (Both the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Congress have recognized states' freedom to protect employees' Right to Work.) However, in 1951, when Congress first foisted forced union dues and fees on employees covered by the Railway Labor Act (RLA), Big Labor senators and representatives opted to deny states the option to protect employees' Right to Work. Ever since, Big Labor has had the government-granted power to get airline and railroad employees fired for refusal to bankroll a union in all 50 states, including Right to Work states.

‘Nowhere to Flee’ For Young Job Seekers?

 Forced-Unionism Expansion Bill Would Kill Prospects For Millions (Source: March 2010 NRTWC Newsletter) According to a scientific poll conducted by the respected Research 2000 firm, 81% of Americans who regularly vote in statewide elections believe workers in unionized workplaces who don’t want a union should “have the right to bargain for themselves.” Unfortunately, for three-quarters of a century, federal labor law has actively promoted what Americans, according to the Research 2000 poll and many others, overwhelmingly oppose. The 1935 National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the 1934 Railway Labor Act (RLA) amendments hand union officials the power to force millions of workers, union members and nonmembers alike, to accept a union as their “exclusive” (monopoly) bargaining agent in their dealings with their employer. Attack on Secret Ballot Only One Trick in Union Monopolists’ Playbook And this year Congress is very likely to bring up for floor votes legislation that would help Big Labor corral millions of additional workers into unions. Until recently, union strategists’ primary vehicle for expanding private-sector union monopoly bargaining in the current Congress was S.560/H.R.1409, the cynically mislabeled “Employee Free Choice Act.” This legislation is designed to help union bosses sharply increase the share of all workers who are under union monopoly control by effectively ending secret-ballot elections in union organizing campaigns.